A MAN who suffered depression after his wife drowned in Holderness Drain was found dead in his home, an inquest heard.
When police attended the home of Robert Christian, an officer found a draft text message on his phone, saying "I am so sorry."
Although empty insulin packets were found around his home, a coroner ruled he died of natural causes, as there was not enough evidence to suggest an overdose.
Mr Christian, 62, was found dead in his bedroom in Staveley Road, east Hull, by Wayne Gray, the husband of his niece Kelly.
An inquest into his death, held in Hull yesterday, heard how he had been depressed after his wife Elaine cut her wrists and then drowned near their home.
Mr Christian was initially arrested by police but was cleared of any involvement in his wife's death after an investigation.
Assistant deputy coroner Geoffrey Saul said: "Mr Christian's wife Elaine passed away in 2011 and an inquest recorded an open verdict.
"After that, Mr Christian became depressed for some time but contact with Mr Gray helped and he jollied him along.
"But he did have some depression and there is a documented attempt to self-harm."
Mr Christian had been visited by Mr Gray a few days before his death.
He said he was not feeling very well so Mr Gray felt he did not want to bother him too much and left.
On January 26, Mr Gray went to check on him again and found him lying face down dead on the floor of his bedroom.
Mr Gray said: "He would get depressed but not with me – I wouldn't let him.
"You had to be straight-forward with him. I told him to get a grip and realise what you have left rather than what you have lost.
"The last time I saw him, I didn't keep him long because he was ill and I didn't want to bother him.
"On the 26th, I went in the back door and the dog came flying down the stairs and was fussing. He must have been in the room with Robert.
"I went upstairs and as soon as I got to the top of the landing, I had an awful feeling something was wrong.
"As soon as I put my head round the door I could see him lying at the side of the bed and it looked like he was in an unnatural position to lie in.
"His face was straight down and I just knew."
Mr Gray went down the street to get his wife Kelly and then returned to the house.
Emergency services arrived and Mr Christian was pronounced dead. Police officers searched the home and found no suspicious circumstances.
However, they did find several empty packets of Mr Christian's diabetes medicine, insulin.
The officer also pressed the screen on Mr Christian's mobile phone and found a text message in drafts, which had not been sent.
PC Karl Coultas said: "Because it was in drafts, it didn't have a date or time or anything.
"It just said 'I'm so sorry Kelly, I hope you can forgive me one day'."
Consultant histopathologist Dr Sanni, who carried out Mr Christian's post mortem, was told he may have taken on overdose of insulin.
He said: "Toxicology tests showed the level of insulin in the body was not elevated.
"He might have taken it – but insulin is very unstable in the body. If you take 10g, in five minutes, it will show as 5g – it disappears very quickly."
The examination showed Mr Christian had significant heart disease and an 80 per cent blockage in his arteries, which could have killed him at any time.
For these reasons – the lack of insulin in the body and the high-risk heart condition – deputy assistant coroner Geoffrey Saul returned a verdict of death by natural causes.
He said: "I cannot rule out that Mr Christian could have had a high level of insulin but by the time the analysis took place, there was no actual evidence of insulin overdose.
"The evidence I have is that he had significant heart disease that he could have died from at any time.
"On the balance of probabilities, I do conclude that is probably what happened.
"I therefore return a verdict that Mr Christian died of natural causes."
