IRANIAN asylum seeker Saeid Alaei told friends he was a sinner before hanging himself at his home, an inquest heard.

The hearing was told that Mr Alaei, 26, had fallen out with friends and appeared to be emotionally upset after possibly witnessing drug abuse on a trip to Manchester.

He was found hanging from the banister at his home in Veevers Street, Brierfield, on December 21.

Asif Iqbal of Hargreaves Street, Nelson, a manager with Clear Springs housing, said he met Saeid on July 5 last year and took him to the house in Brierfield.

He kept in weekly contact with him and they became good friends. He said his friend never aired his inner feelings. He was a healthy, energetic, courteous and pleasant chap, very happy and full of life.

Speaking through an interpreter, Amir Marooh of New Chapel Road, Blackburn, said he had known Saeid for many years before they came to this country, due to the situation in Iran.

He said they entered via Dover with two friends to apply for asylum.

At Dover Saeid and a friend, Kroroshi, had a fight. Saeid was attacked with a screwdriver and after that they did not talk to each other. When they arrived in Brierfield they lived in two houses in Veevers Street and all attended Nelson and Colne College.

He said that about a month before he died, Saeid visited Manchester. When he returned he was a changed person mentally and emotionally. He was crying a lot of the time and saying that he was a sinner. He was abusive towards him but would not explain why.

He said that at a house in Blackburn the day before he died, he was again crying and said everyone hated him and that he was sorry for what he had done.

Behrouz Dehmahdi, who shared the same house, said he thought Saeid's mood changes after returning from Manchester may have had something to do with drugs -- heroin and LDS tablets.

On the evening of December 21 he returned home and found Saeid hanging from the bannister with a sheet around his neck.

It appeared he had made another attempt to hang himself from a curtain rail in the living room. A table and chair were knocked over and there was blood on flex from a kettle and iron tied together.

There was a cut on Saeid's neck which would not have been caused by the sheet.

PC Fraser Manson said police were satisfied no-one else was involved in the death and that he hung himself.

Recording a verdict that he killed himself, East Lancashire Coroner David Smith, said it was clear that Saeid, a single man, had intended to take the steps he did and intended to kill himself.

He expressed sympathy to his friends and to his family in Iran.