SUICIDE TEXT MESSAGE

A YOUNG man sent his girlfriend a goodbye text message before taking his own life.

Cheshire Coroner Nicholas Rheinburg recorded a verdict of suicide at an inquest into the death of Simon Gregg Taylor at Crewe Magistrates' Court, last Wednesday.

Mr Taylor, aged 35, of Weston Park, Elton Lane, Wheelock, was found dead in his Ford Escort, on Sunday, September 17 last year.

A work colleague, Keith Hindley discovered his body curled up on the back seat of his car, parked inside Flexichem at Booths Lane, Middlewich.

Poisonous fumes had been fed from the vehicle's exhaust via a hose pipe, into the driver's window.

His father, Roy Francis Taylor, believed his son's problems stemmed from a serious assault in 1996.

"He was with a particular person who assaulted him.," he said.

"They were the best of buddies. They had been lying on the floor playing computer games and Simon had beaten him so many times that this man picked up a wooden penguin and hit him several times.

"He needed 30 or 40 stitches. In my opinion the incident led to the break up of his relationship and the loss of his house."

Debt problems began to build up as his father explained.

"He got very depressed. He had been in the building trade but couldn't continue because he couldn't climb ladders.

"I knew he owed money and it had worried him but not to the extent of taking his own life."

Mr Hindley who had gone into work and made the discovery shortly after 9am said he knew Simon no more than as a work colleague.

"I knew about his debt problems but not the extent of them. He was up and down a lot of the time and did have mood swings but he wasn't depressive. He had a sense of humour and saw the black comedy of his life.

"He even joked about taking his own life but if we had realised how far down he had gone, we would have attempted to do something about it.

In a statement made by his employer, Stuart Walker, it was revealed that Mr Taylor had made a previous attempt on his life, two months earlier.

"He had come into work with bandages around his wrist. He told me he had tried to commit suicide. I took him to hospital and he was offered counselling."

His girlfriend, Nicola Beaumont from Haslington, revealed they had met a year before his death.

"When we first met he was a happy-go-lucky person but as time went on he started to tell me about his previous girlfriend and his debt problems."

Miss Beaumont told the inquest that Mr Taylor had taken pills and alcohol in February, prior to the incident In which he had cut his wrists following an argument.

"I can't remember what the argument was about," she said.

"I left and went and sat on a wall before thinking this is silly so I went back.

She returned to his flat to find Mr Taylor had cut his wrists.

"He bandaged them up and went to work the next day. He said he had counselling the next day and it had gone okay. He said it would not happen again."

Miss Beaumont last saw him on the morning of Saturday, September 16 and spoke to him on the telephone at 8pm, later that evening.

"He had seemed okay," she added.

The following day she found a text message on her mobile at 11am from Mr Taylor that had been sent at 3.39am.

Although it's contents were not disclosed, Mr Rheinburg did reveal it said goodbye.

PC David Appleby, who was first to arrive at the scene, said there was nothing to suggest a third party had been involved and no note had been found in the car

A post-mortem found the cause of death to be carbon monoxide poisoning.