A CORONER is to write to Health Secretary Matt Hancock to highlight the tragic case of a young west Cumbrian man who took a fatal overdose.

An inquest heard a heartbreaking account of the death of Workington man Lee Elliott, 30.

His family found him dead in his bedroom on the morning of February 6 at Craig Road. A much-loved son and brother, he had battled with his mental health.

Tests showed that the cause of his death was a fatal dose of the chemical involved - and that is the issue coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw will now raise with Mr Hancock.

The inquest heard how Mr Elliott enjoyed a normal and happy childhood, getting on well with his two brothers. Like them, he was a guitarist and loved music.

But in recent months, he experienced metal health problems. In a statement, his mother Fiona spoke of the family’s efforts to help Lee, who before Christmas attempted to harm himself. His brother Alex spent two hours on the phone to the crisis team trying to help but they insisted Lee had to call them himself, she said.

The hearing was told also of an occasion when Lee Elliott went out at night and then returned at 11.30pm with a serious head wound. It was as if somebody attacked him with an axe, his mother told the inquest.

Doctors confirmed he had a fractured skull. Asked what happened, he said he “slipped”. “Throughout all of this, Lee was calm,” said his mother. When in the hospital, he was in a ward with older men and was desperate to leave, said Mrs Elliott.

He was discharged the next day. The inquest then heard about the day of Mr Elliott’s death. He was playing loud music in his bedroom. After turning it down, he came downstairs to make a cup of tea at 10pm.

The next morning, she knocked on his bedroom door to tell him the bathroom was free but there was no answer.

“We were always expecting something to happen,” said Mrs Elliott. “I rang his phone. I was worried about Lee.

Alerted by their worried mother, Lee’s brother Glenn forced Lee’s locked bedroom door. They found him inside but he could not be revived.

It later emerged he had bought two bags of the chemical involved, ingesting some of it.

One was from Poland and one from a UK firm. Recording a suicide verdict, Dr Shaw said a coroner in West Yorkshire recently investigated a similar tragedy.

He said: “I’ll write to Matt Hancock... and copy that to the supplier of the substance, asking for his comments. I hope some good will come of that.”

  • West Cumbria Samaritans are available free on 116 123.