A MAN convicted then cleared of murdering a North-East schoolboy more than a decade ago hanged himself in woodland near his home, an inquest heard yesterday.

Stephen David Johnson, of Tow Law, County Durham, took his life after the relationship with his partner began to deteriorate, the hearing was told.

The 36-year-old was found hanging from a tree on Tuesday, March 23.

It followed an extensive police search, which was launched after he called girlfriend Hayley Goodfellow threatening to kill himself.

In February 1995, Mr Johnson walked free from a life sentence when the Appeal Court in London quashed his 1992 conviction for the murder of Kevin Spowart.

The 15-year-old had been kicked to death in the car park of a Newcastle supermarket 1990. Mr Johnson always denied murdering the teenager.

Ms Goodfellow, who did not attend the inquest, said in a statement she had known he was in prison before the couple met eight years ago.

She said they moved from Brunswick village, near Newcastle, to Tow Law, to make a fresh start. For the first few years were happy.

"However, over the past year he suffered depression and never held down a full-time job, and received counselling and medication," she said.

"In 2003, we split up for a short while, but got back together. In January this year, I noticed him changing. He suffered increasing bouts of depression."

The weekend before his death, Mr Johnson had locked himself upstairs and cried after Ms Goodfellow admitted she was no longer in love with him, although she still cared for him.

On Monday, March 22, he took his dog for a walk and later called her, saying he planned to kill himself and had been considering it for a while, said Ms Goodfellow.

Tow Law beat officer PC Geoffrey Moore, who was working with the dog section on the search, was led by Mr Johnson's cocker spaniel to his body, in woodland alongside Pink Lane, off the Cornsay Colliery road.

After hearing from pathologist Dr Clive Bloxom that the sole cause of death was due to hanging, Kenneth Howe, deputy coroner for south Durham, recorded a verdict of suicide.