Trevor Metcalf, 49, died on Tuesday August 26 at the house on Elm Road he shared with his partner Christine Jeeves.

At the inquest in Rotherham on Wednesday Mrs Jeeves' daughter Tracy Jeeves, told Coroner Peter Gore that she had gone to Rotherham Hospital with Mr Metcalf on the Sunday before he died, after he had taken an overdose of tablets. She said Mr Metcalf had been mentally unstable that day and "wasn't thinking properly".

The inquest heard Mr Metcalf, a painter and decorator, had suffered similar problems four and a half years previously.

A doctor at the hospital said the 50 tablets Mr Metcalf had taken would not harm him and referred him to his GP, the inquest heard.

Tracy Jeeves' sister, Dawn Jeeves, told the inquest Mr Metcalf had wanted to go to stay at an aunt's house in Wath later that day and stayed the night there. The aunt had telephoned them to say Mr Metcalf was unable to settle. He was pacing around the house and had tried to throw himself through a bedroom window.

The inquest heard that, after contacting a crisis helpline number, Mr Metcalf was taken to Mexborough Montagu Hospital, where he was referred to Doncaster Royal Infirmary. There, he was given an assessment and it was decided that he should be treated at home.

Miss Jeeves said: "My mother was scared for him and herself if he came home. They released him and said they should bring him some tablets at home. As soon as he got in the car he said he wanted tablets to end his life."

She said the family had rung the crisis number again: "They came round and gave him a tablet and then they came back later with a tablet for mum to give him between 10pm and midnight. She gave it him at midnight but the tablets were not taking effect, he was pacing around the room. They said they would see him the next afternoon."

She said she had received a telephone call from her mother at 1.15am who was screaming that Mr Metcalf had tried to hang himself. She had gone to the house with her partner and the ambulance had arrived. She had been present when Mr Metcalf's body was removed from the house and said her mother had been the last person to see him alive.

The inquest was adjourned.