A FATHER was found hanging by a dressing gown cord from the banister of his Lower Darwen home.

And an inquest heard how Ian Kay, 36, was "torn apart" every time he returned his five-year-old son, Nathan, to his estranged wife after arranged visits - as he did two days before his body was discovered.

Mr Kay, of Branch Road, had given no indication that he would harm himself, but his father, Joseph Kay, of Park Lee Road, Blackburn, said that after Ian had seen Nathan he was "vulnerable".

Mr Kay said: "He was coping in a lot of senses but not in others, especially with regard to his son."

"Every time he had to leave him it tore him apart and he did not like to let him go. That was when he was vulnerable.

"I have never had my son for a day and then had to give him back to someone so I can't say just how it feels."

Ian Kay's wife, Suzanne, of Greenbank Terrace, Lower Darwen, said Ian was Nathan's hero.

She said her husband was always a strong person and always seemed to cope with things really well. She said that in all the time she had known Ian he had never given any indication that he would do himself harm.

The inquest heard that Ian Kay had suffered a minor head injury and a broken collar bone in an assault in August, but had indicated to his doctor that he wanted to return to work as a chargehand shortly before his death.

A post mortem revealed that Ian had nearly four times the legal drink driving limit of alcohol in his blood at the time of his death.

Recording a verdict that he killed himself, coroner Andre Rebello said he was clearly drunk at the time of the incident.

"What we do now know is what was going through his mind two days before his body was discovered," said Mr Rebello. "What is clear is that his son Nathan worshipped him and that is his memorial."

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