A RETIRED police officer who had been suffering from depression was found hanged at home, an inquest heard.

The family of John Martin Edmondson, 61, known as Martin, paid tribute to a ‘nice family man’ after the hearing at Burnley Magistrates’ Court.

Mr Edmondson, who lived on Burnley Road in Rawtenstall, had been depressed for some time and was undergoing treatment from his GP.

But the inquest was told how the unexpected death of his father in March had caused him to become more withdrawn and he had experienced trouble sleeping. He had been a carer for his father.

His widow Patricia attended the inquest on Tuesday, along with his two sons, David, 34, and Gareth, 33.

She told the hearing: “He was very down for the last four weeks. He couldn’t sleep.”

The inquest heard that Mr Edmondson had become worried about trivial things, but his family were taking steps to encourage him to take part in activities to lift his mood.

Mrs Edmondson said that although he had been low and had not been socialising, he had shown no signs of harming himself.

On May 22 this year, his wife asked him to carry out some gardening and planned to meet him for a coffee.

She told the hearing that Mr Edmondson left no note or messages, and she said that nothing had changed apart from the death of his father. She said there were no financial or marital problems.

Giving evidence, she said: “He said he felt panicky all the time. I think he just wanted to get away from how was was feeling.”

Recording a verdict of suicide, East Lancashire deputy coroner Mark Williams said: “It was a very definite act. He would have known what the consequence would be.”

Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Edmondson said: “He was just a nice family man.

“He was a policeman. He was always thinking of us.

He did what he did for us, to save us any trouble. He thought of us right to the end.”