Keen clubber hanged himself

A KEEN clubber from Heathfield who was almost deafened by loud music hanged himself with an electrical cable, a inquest heard.

Steven George Blades, 28, was found dead at his Tilsmore Road flat on January 11 this year. He had been an habitual user of drugs, particularly cocaine, for years.

At the inquest on Tuesday, the coroner was told that Mr Blades, an engineer, had tried to take his life once before in 1993 when he became heavily indebted to a number of drug dealers.

According to his twin brother James, Mr Blades loved nightclubbing, and would do so excessively. He wore hearing aids in both ears, probably due to the volume of the music in the clubs he frequented.

Doctors told Mr Blades that he would probably be completely deaf by the time he was 30. 'That definitely got him down,' said his brother. 'But I think it was other things that really depressed him.'

In 1994, Mr Blades apparently weaned himself off drugs, but went back to them four years later. His long-term girlfriend Amanda Cook with whom he owned the flat left him at the end of 2001.

Upset

'It just became too much to bear,' she said. 'In the end, enough was enough. There seemed to be no question of depression, and I had no idea whatsoever that he would commit suicide. He was upset, but nothing that unusual.'

On January 9, Mr Blades invited close friend April Baldwin round for coffee, and asked her to stay the night. 'I knew he had been depressed about a number of things over the last few weeks, but I never dreamed he would kill himself,' said Miss Baldwin.

On the evening of January 11, concerned that they had not heard from their son and that he was not answering his door, Mr Blades' parents used an estate agent's key to enter the flat.

They discovered him hanging from the loft access hatch in the hallway ceiling. He had created a noose from a length of black flex and a number of electrical clips. A note was found in the living room.

The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.