A CARNFORTH man who complained of agonising pains took his own life after doctors said they could find nothing physically wrong with him, an inquest at Lancaster Magistrates has heard.

Leonard Alfred Hodgson, 57, of Howard's Mews, Crag Bank, suffered back and leg injuries at work in 1994 and subsequently complained of severe pains in his body.

He was given medication for depression but continued to claim he was in pain and his mood was very low.

A CT Scan revealed that there was nothing physically wrong, which left Mr Hodgson "gutted."

On July 15 this year his wife, Margaret, came back from work and discovered that he had taken 12 paracetamol tablets in an attempt to kill himself. The mental health crisis team were alerted and, after being treated at the RLI, he was offered a bed at the Ridge Lea Hospital in Lancaster but came home three days later.

After returning home he threw himself partially down the stairs and badly bruised an ankle. A doctor was called and he was instructed to continue taking his anti-depressants.

On July 19, Margaret Hodgson returned home and found her husband hanging from a rope tied to the roof rafters through the loft. During the inquest, coroner Mr George Howson, heard how a number of mental health professionals had treated Mr Hodgson.

Outreach worker, Lynette Hill, said Mr Hodgson was very pre-occupied with physical ailments and constantly described agonising pains. She said that he did not give the impression that he was in pain and appeared quite agile.

Dr Sally Pidd said she believed Mr Hodgson was using physical symptoms as a way to describe an underlying psychological condition.

She said the negative results of the CT Scan made him more depressed and hopeless.

"He was unhappy that no one was taking his pain seriously. He felt that he was dying and unless something was done quickly he would die," she said.

Dr Pidd considered detaining Mr Hodgson under the Mental Health Act but felt it would "stigmatise" him and might make his depression worse.

A family member asked why Mr Hodgson had not been sectioned after making two obvious suicide attempts.

Dr Pidd replied that, with hindsight, she wished she had sectioned him but at the time her professional judgement was that it would not have been in his best interest.

The coroner said he was satisfied that Mr Hodgson has taken his own life and recorded a verdict of suicide.