Newmarket man Daniel Drake who had no known mental health issues took his own life by hanging, Suffolk Coroner's Court hears

A Newmarket man hanged himself after he text his friend about his funeral arrangements and while his wife slept.

Daniel Drake, 44 of Green Road, was found by his wife Lydia at their home at around 5.30am on January 13 after she received messages from a friend concerned about her husband.

Despite the arrival of the ambulance service who carried out CPR, Mr Drake, who had no known mental health issues, was pronounced dead at 6.07am.

During an inquest today, Suffolk Coroner's Court was told Mr Drake, who worked as a car valeter, had no previous history of mental health struggles.

He had briefly been known to drink and drug abuse charity Turning Point in 2019 and previously told his GP he drank up to 15 lagers every other day.

The court heard Mr Drake was last seen by Lydia at around 10.30pm on January 12 when she went to bed and left him drinking. She estimated he may have had around eight cans of beer during the evening.

Just after midnight, Mr Drake text his friend Adam Briggs requesting a song to be played at his funeral, which led Adam to message Lydia with his concern.

She did not see Adam's message until she woke up at around 5.30am and found her husband.

Coroner Nigel Parsley told the inquest Mr Drake had not shown any signs that he was planning to end his life and Lydia was not aware of any issues in his life.

Speaking of whether or not the amount he had drunk on the night could have impacted his decision, Mr Parsley said: "What we do know was that he was still Compos Mentis enough to send and receive text messages."

He ruled the death a suicide and recorded his medical cause of death as hanging.

Addressing Mr Drake's family, Mr Parsley said: "Tragically I have conducted inquests into many cases where I have to return a conclusion of suicide.

"In many of these cases I will see significant evidence of previous attempts at suicide, previous statements that someone was going to commit suicide.

"There is nothing in Dan's case, and I mean nothing, that could've led any of you to suspect what happened."

For more information on how we can report on inquests, click here.

For confidential support on an emotional issue, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time.

If you want to talk to someone confidentially, click here.