A MAN stabbed himself repeatedly through the heart and chest after being harassed by the family of a woman who had died in a car crash, an inquest was told.

The hearing was told that Mark Smale's body was found in a pool of blood in the blood splattered bathroom of his flat in Richmond House, Richmond Street, Accrington, in March.

A fellow resident claimed that prior to her death Jeanette McKenna had asked Mark, 38, to get her a "shooter" so she could shoot her husband who had been beating her up.

Pregnant Jeanette, of The Copse, Accrington, died while in labour as she drove along Shadsworth Road, Blackburn, on her way to hospital on New Years Eve.

Recording a verdict that Mark killed himself while the balance of his mind was disturbed, deputy coroner Carolyn Singleton said the evidence showed that he had become troubled.

"This is the most horrific case of suicide I have ever had to deal with," said Mrs Singleton. "That someone should take their own life by inflicting

this degree of harm beggars belief. At the time of his death he must have been a soul in torment."

Richmond House is a block of 12 flats run and staffed by the Carr-Gomm Society, a national charity which provides housing and other support to 2,500 people who have mental health problems or learning disabilities.

Resident Lucy Mooney said that on March 10, the day before his body was discovered Mark had been bombarded with phone calls from members of the McKenna family who were demanding the return of a set of keys.

She also told the inquest of numerous visits to the flats by the McKenna family and of one occasion when she saw them ransacking Mark's flat. "He looked scared to death," said Lucy in a statement read to the inquest.

Support worker Tina Flatley confirmed that Mark had been deeply troubled by the attention he was receiving from the McKenna family.

"They came to the flats a couple of times when I was there and I sent them away," said Mrs Flatley. "We contacted the police and I think they went round to see them. The problems he was having with them were bothering Mark a lot."

Home Office pathologist Charles Wilson said: "I am of the opinion that all the wounds are entirely consistent with self infliction," he added.

In her statement Miss Mooney revealed that Jeanette McKenna had once spent a night at Mark's flat and that her family had been demanding the return of a set of keys they thought he still had.

"They kept coming round harassing Mark," said Lucy. "Mark was really frightened of them and on one occasion he hid in my flat when they came round. I don't think they ever did anything to physically hurt him."

Mark's mum, Marion Smale, of Willows Lane, Accrington, said Mark seemed deeply depressed three days before his death.

She said Mark had met Jeanette McKenna when they had both been receiving treatment in Queens Park Hospital psychiatric unit.

Coroner Michael Singleton adjourned the inquest into Jeanette's death in March.