A MAN who discovered his girlfriend had been seeing one of his friends while he was in prison hanged himself with a dressing gown cord in a shed at his home.

An inquest heard that Benjamin Eric Pickup, 23 had been out of prison a week when his mother Elaine Godfrey made the grim discovery.

She said while her son seemed to be coping with his girlfriend's infidelity, with hindsight it was obvious he had been "bottling up" emotions.

Mrs Godfrey, of Kingsley Close, Church, said her son had been in custody for five months then charges were dropped.

She said Mr Pickup had been going out with a girl called Rachel Hargreaves for three years before his remand in custody.

The day he was released he found out she had been seeing one of his friends.

On Sunday, September 11 Mr Pickup had not come home and the following morning the lights were on and the back door open. When she returned home from work she started ringing his friends then noticed the key was in the shed door and found him there.

Ryan Alman said on the day he was released, Mr Pickup had asked about his girlfriend and he had told him the truth. "He said he wasn't bothered," said Mr Alman.

He spent most of Sunday with Mr Pickup who kept ringing Rachel asking to see her.

Mr Alman said about dinner time Mr Pickup said: "I've had enough. I'm going to kill myself."

"I told him to shut up and not to be so stupid," said Mr Alman.

The phone calls continued during the day.

About 12.30am he rang and told her he loved her and wanted to meet her but she refused.

"When he got off the phone he said he wanted to go and fight with the man Rachel had been kissing," said Mr Alman. "He asked me for £10 for a taxi and I gave it to him and then fell asleep."

Recording a verdict that Mr Pickup killed himself, coroner Michael Singleton said: "At that moment the depth of his distress was such that he was not able to look at things rationally."