An ex-soldier and self-defence expert took his own life after struggling with the effects of lockdown, an inquest heard.

Sean “Tony” Bradley saw his business and lifestyle put on hold due to the coronavirus restrictions.

Mr Bradley, 53, one of the UK’s leading instructors in the Israeli self-defence system of Krav Maga, killed himself at his home in Church in the early hours of July 7.

Neighbours heard a loud noise and when they went to investigate found him having suffered catastrophic injuries, the inquest into his death, at Accrington Town Hall, heard.

Mr Bradley’s medical records showed no evidence of self-harm, depression, anxiety or mental health issues.

After the hearing his sister, Angela Wray, said her brother felt frustrated by the lack of government support for businesses such as his and more understanding was needed.

Mrs Wray added: “People need to realise just how many this pandemic has affected.”

Mr Bradley, born in Bury, Greater Manchester, had served “with distinction” in the King’s Hussars and the Royal Armoured Corps before studying with the Open University and becoming an IT consultant with blue-chip companies.

Described as “a lad’s lad” who also enjoyed camping and shooting, he missed his outdoor lifestyle and gave up his IT career to go travelling around the world for six years.

Mr Bradley, who was not married and had no children, then studied Krav Maga in Israel and returned to the UK to set up his own club in the north west of England, where he taught serving and ex-forces personnel, close-protection bodyguards, law enforcement and members of the public.

But it all went “out of the window” when the UK went into lockdown last March, the inquest heard.

James Newman, area coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen said: “He can’t go out, he can’t do the things he loved, he can’t do his job. It’s all taken away from him.

“It seems the effects of lockdown, certainly financially – Tony was a martial arts instructor training a lot of people, it was his life, his profession and that went out of the window in lockdown.

“He had built up and started a business that had taken time to develop and grow and all of a sudden, as a new business, he didn’t have any funding from the pandemic.

“He’d just spent 12 months getting his business up and running and it’s been pulled out from under him.”

The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide, after Mr Bradley’s “business and lifestyle was severely curtailed by the restrictions due to the Covid 19 pandemic”.

A report earlier this week found the number of suicides in England did not rise following the first national lockdown, though charities had reported more people seeking mental health support.

Help can be found by calling the Samaritans, free at any time, on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org or visiting Samaritans.org.