A MAN drank cyanide because he was depressed about the breakdown of his marriage, an inquest heard yesterday.
Christopher James Green, 30, had separated from his wife, Petra, two weeks before he was found dead in his laboratory at the Kenmore refrigeration plant, in Crook.
Mr Green, a process chemist from High Urpeth, near Chester-le-Street, was desperate for a reconciliation with his wife and two-year-old daughter and was depressed when this was ruled out.
Work colleague Kevin Stephenson told the Bishop Auckland inquest that he received a telephone call from Mr Green's father and went to the laboratory to find him lying on the floor.
Consultant pathologist Dr Anthony Senadhira said a post-mortem examination revealed Mr Green had 38.6 millilitres of cyanide per litre of blood in his system and that death would have been quick.
South Durham and Darlington Coroner Andrew Tweddle ruled that Mr Green took his own life.
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