A HEROIN addict hanged himself in prison after voices in his head told him to kill himself, an inquest was told yesterday.

Unemployed labourer Mark McGrogan, 28, of Boswell Street, Middlesbrough, was found dead at Holme House Prison, in Stockton, on June 12 last year. He had been remanded in custody on suspicion of a knifepoint robbery.

The inquest heard how his girlfriend, Lisa Butcher, left him after she claimed he forced her into prostitution and beat her up.

In a statement read out to the jury, she said: "I had to go out to work myself to fund my habit, but I ended up having to fund Mark's as well.

"I got sick of the beatings so I decided to end the relationship.

"I heard that he took the split-up really badly and was depressed. It was only because he had lost the source funding his habit."

But his mother, Dorothy McGrogan, 61, of Grangetown, said Mr McGrogan thought the world of his girlfriend, but became depressed when he could not find the money to pay for things she kept asking for.

His GP, Dr Ian Guy, told the inquest that Mr McGrogan had been a user of heroin and amphetamines for a number of years and was on medication to help him cope.

Dr Guy said Mr McGrogan had told him he had suicidal thoughts and heard voices in his head telling him to kill himself.

The inquest heard consultant psychiatrist Dr Mohammed Ayub was called by a police doctor on June 10 after his arrest.

He said: "When I spoke to him he said he was hearing voices in his head that were telling him to kill his girlfriend. He said it so matter of fact I thought he was making it up."

But Dr Mohi Uddin Khan, a psychiatrist at the University Hospital of North Tees, said he did not think that he was clinically depressed.

He said: "He was suffering from a behaviour disorder because of his opiate dependency not a mental disorder.

"He indicated to me that he had broken up with his partner. She left him and he could not accept it."

The inquest continues.