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, Crook, in January.

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 devastated when this was ruled out.

His colleague, Kevin Stephenson, told the inquest in Bishop Auckland that he had received a phone call from Mr Green's father and went to the lab to find him lying on the floor.

Consultant pathologist Dr Anthony Senadhira said that the amount of cyanide in his body meant his death would have been very quick.

South Durham and Darlington coroner Andrew Tweddle ruled that Mr Green took his own life.