A FATHER recorded a message a goodbye message just days before he was found hanging, an inquest heard.

Mark Andrew Hone said that he “wanted to be a success but I’m now a failure”, the inquest was the told.

The freelance NHS finance director discovered that his contract was concluding towards the end of 2019 which left him with financial stress and concerns about future employment.

The inquest was told that Mr Hone, of Fair View, Alresford, had a habit of drinking a bottle of alcohol a night and had been attending Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, as his “life became dependent on alcohol” in the last six months.

On Christmas Eve 2019 the ambulance service was called when the 58-year-old was discovered in his garage after taking an overdose of Valium and later diagnosed with alcohol dependent syndrome.

Two days later on Boxing Day, Mr Hone’s wife Niki Cartwright phoned NHS 111 saying that he had intended to take his own life on Christmas Eve and was researching on the internet how to do it.

Ms Cartwright was told to bring her husband to accident and emergency at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

Coroner Jason Pegg said: “Niki Cartwright said when they went to the hospital Mr Hone was seen by the mental health team, after seeing them they went home with a good care plan.

“Niki Cartwright said she felt optimistic, felt they were getting the support they needed.”

But hours later her husband had failed to come to bed, at 3.30am he was discovered on his laptop and the wine fridge was open.

After half an hour Mr Hone had not come to the bedroom which caused Ms Cartwright concern and she ran to the garage to find him hanging,

Following his death a video was found on Mr Hone’s phone which said he had “lost all pride in his role as a finance director,” adding: “I did what I did what I did due to cash flow issues. I was not clever enough and been found out”.

The inquest did not address what Mr Hone was referring to in the video.

Speaking of her husband, Ms Cartwright said he was “someone who is very happy and carefree” when she first met him, but in the last few months “he had become withdrawn and didn’t speak very much”.

A post-mortem concluded that Mr Hone died as a result of hanging, with toxicology reports finding that he was over three times of the legal drink drive limit – which is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Diazepam was also found in Mr Hone’s system, but this was said to be at a therapeutic level.

Coroner Mr Pegg concluded that Mr Hone’s death was a suicide.