A DEPRESSED part-time postman whose body was found in a Carlisle pub had been dead for “some hours”, an inquest heard.

A pathologist confirmed that Andrew Jordan, 52, who split from his long-term partner because of his drink problem, died after taking an overdose of painkillers and anti-depressants.

He had gone into the Currock pub on Boundary Road at 3pm on Sunday August 9, and was found at 8.30pm.

A member of staff found him in the pub’s little-used lounge area, his body sprawled across a bench.

The Carlisle inquest heard how CCTV footage from the pub showed that Mr Jordan, whose stepdaughter described him as a “lovely guy”, had bought two pints of cider within five minutes of arriving at the pub.

He took them to the lounge, sitting on a partitioned-off bench that was out of sight from the bar area.

A member of staff who found him thought he was sleeping.

The hearing was told that a post-mortem revealed that Mr Jordan, who had battled against depression, had swallowed a fatal dose of painkillers and antidepressants, and also consumed the equivalent of two and a half times the drink drive limit.

Matthew Jenkins, who worked at the pub, said in a statement that he had gone into the lounge area at 8.30pm and noticed a man on a bench who he assumed was asleep. His head was resting on a pillow.

Mr Jenkins tried to wake the man but got no response. It was when he noticed how cold the man’s hands were that Mr Jenkins realised the man was dead, he said.

Landlady Margaret Maxwell asked for an ambulance to be called. Police officers and paramedics, who found empty pill packets on the floor where Mr Jordan was found, confirmed that by the time his body was found, rigor mortis had already set in.

This indicated he must have been dead for some hours.

The inquest then heard evidence from Mr Jordan’s mother, Anne Jordan, with whom he had lived at her home in Millbank Court, Currock. She recalled how he had been in Stafford the previous day but had returned home, agitated.

The inquest heard that while he was in Stafford, Mr Jordan had been arrested after a police pursuit. He told a family member: “I’ve made a real hash of this.”

Mrs Jordan confirmed that her son’s drinking had been the reason for the breakdown of his relationship with his former partner.

On the day he died, he called his former partner and commented that everything she would need was on his bed at Millbank Court. His stepdaughter Jodie Blackwood, 21, said that prompted her to investigate and she found family photos on the bed and old paperwork.

She feared that Mr Jordan had done something stupid, she said, and she had driven round in her car, looking for him.

“We all tried calling him but there was no answer,” she said.

A week before he died, she asked him how he was doing and his reply was: “Not good, but I’ll get there.”

She said Mr Jordan was not a regular at the Currock pub. Asked what sort of man Mr Jordan had been, she said: “He was an absolutely lovely guy. We got on great. We were best friends, really.”

Senior North and West Cumbria Coroner David Roberts said that in all probability Mr Jordan had been caught drink-driving in Stafford, given his history of alcohol use.

Noting that Mr Jordan took an overdose in 2013, Mr Roberts said: “Everything points to him deliberately taking that overdose to end his life.

“Although it was sudden and unexpected, everything points to it being suicide.”