AN UNEMPLOYED father killed himself at the home he shared with his mother after a lengthy battle with depression, an inquest has heard.

Surrinder Grewal, who was 44, was found by his mother hanged at their home less than an hour after she had left him to go shopping.

Giving evidence at his inquest on Monday (February 28), his sister Harinder Mahil said: “I had a call from my other brother saying our mother had rung him, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“I called her and she was screaming, saying something about Surrinder.

“I had the kids with me so I dropped them off before I went to my mother’s house. I knew something had happened and I thought, ‘I don’t want them to see this.’ “When I got there I found my mother holding his legs. She had tried to cut the cord with some scissors but she couldn’t.

“I cut him down but, by looking at his eyes, I knew he had gone.”

Mr Grewal left two notes in his bedroom – one to his sister outlining his financial difficulties, and another apologising to his sons and family.

He also laid out financial documents on his bed for his sister to find.

The court heard that the former post office worker had been diagnosed with severe depression in 2004 and was taking a course of anti-depressants.

In December that year Mr Grewal attempted suicide when he sat on the edge of the roof of the post office where he worked, but was restrained by security guards before he could jump off.

Some time later he told his family he had gone to a nearby train station with the intention of jumping in front of a train but had changed his mind.

He had been living with his mother in Highcliff Gardens, Gants Hill, since separating from his wife in 2007.

Paramedics who arrived at Mr Grewal’s house on the day he died – December 23, 2010 – declared him dead at the scene.

At Walthamstow Coroners Court, coroner Dr Caroline Sumeray found that Mr Grewal had killed himself while the balance of his mind was disturbed.