A MAN who fell in love with a woman he had never met killed himself when she ended the relationship.

An inquest heard that 45-year-old Gordon Cleghorn, from Wareham in Dorset, became besotted with Joan Connor, from Sunderland, after she sent him a text message for a joke.

Ms Connor ended the relationship when she discovered Mr Cleghorn was her common-law husband's cousin and Mr Cleghorn hanged himself in an isolated wood after becoming suicidal.

In December last year, Ms Connor found a message on her partner's mobile phone and replied to it from her phone.

Ms Connor said in a statement: "I decided to send one back for a bit of fun. He replied and we started texting each other regularly and this progressed to phone calls and letters.

"Before we knew where we were, we were in love with each other. We realised how we felt about each other and I tried to end contact with Gordon and told him I was going to Canada to work."

By this time, Mr Cleghorn suspected the woman was his cousin's partner and travelled to Sunderland to visit them.

She said when they met, they made eye contact and she realised by his look that he knew who she was.

He phoned Ms Connor on May 19 to tell her he was suicidal and hanged himself. His body was found four months later.

East Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne recorded a verdict of suicide.