THE family of a depressed man who killed himself say mental health services failed him.

James Parker was found dead in his bathroom by his brother, Ben Parker, on Tuesday morning at his home in Clitheroe.

Ben said James, 27, had been struggling to cope with the death of his older brother, Leroy, 31,who died of a drug overdose in September 2017.

This came 10 months after Leroy’s two-year-old daughter, Jazmin Parker, died following a short fight against meningococcal septicaemia in November 2016.

James’ mum, Frynne Bisping, 62, said mental health services did not do enough to help him.

She said: “He tried to get sectioned three times but he was allowed to go home on every occasion.

“Not enough was done to help him. Doctors said he had a form of post-traumatic stress disorder after Leroy and Jazmin's deaths. The health service has failed him.

“I feel so heartbroken because I feel I could have done something differently or said something differently.”

Ms Bisping said the family had found suicide notes from James in the past.

Ben, 38, said his younger brother did not cope with the death of his sibling and his niece and had spiralled into depression.

He said: “The deaths of Leroy and Jazmin hit us all hard, really hard.

“I don’t think James ever came to terms with it. He turned to drink. He started bingeing on it and he stopped wanting to be in places with lots of people.

“He started to go on walks on his own.”

Ben’s partner, Cherie Ellison, 36, said: “We want to speak out about this to hopefully change something so those who are currently on a similar path don’t end up like James.

“James needed the support and we feel he wasn’t given it. Nothing will bring him back.”

James studied catering at Blackburn College and had worked as a chef at several pubs and restaurants.

He attended Brookside Primary School and Ribblesdale High School in Clitheroe.

Amy Parker, 31, James’ sister, said: “Mental health is talked about everywhere but not enough is done to save people.

“James was well-loved. He was really popular in Clitheroe. He was bubbly and kind.

“We’ve had a lot of support from Clitheroe and the police officers who helped us were fantastic.”

A spokesman for mental health trust Lancashire Care said it was working hard to reduce the number of suicides.

He said: “We would like to express our sincere condolences to James’ family and friends for their loss.

“Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time and we recognise the devastating impact that this has on family members.

“Every suicide is a tragedy and one suicide is one too many.

“We also know that there are people who have died by suicide that have not been in contact with our services, and so we are working to make our services even more accessible for those who need them.

“We have a well-established process of review and learning within the trust, which has helped us to have a lower rate of suicide amongst patients when compared to other trusts.

“However this does not mean that we are complacent about continuing to learn and we remain focused on making our services even easier to access and more responsive.

“We are committed to supporting the Lancashire suicide reduction plan, which involves working with a broad range of statutory and third sector partners to provide the support to continue to reduce the number of people that die by suicide in Lancashire.

“Reducing suicide is a priority for all partners within the Lancashire and South Cumbria health economy and funding has been secured for a range of suicide reduction initiatives across the public sector to raise awareness and prevent suicide.”

The family are raising money to pay for James' funeral. 

Anyone who wishes to donate can click here.

There is also a donation box at Carbella Tattoo Collective in High Street, Rishton.