A man took his own life after a booze-fuelled argument with his on/off girlfriend, an inquest into his death heard.
Kevin Alderman and Magrieta Smith - better known as Maffti - had a row which escalated into violence in the early hours of January 22, 2012.
Window cleaner Kevin, 31, of Leighton Buzzard Road, Hemel Hempstead, was left with two small abrasions on his face - Ms Smith told the inquest, held at Hatfield on Thursday, that she had scratched him.
Kevin left her home when she threatened to call the police and he went to his sister’s house.
In a statement read out by Herts Coroner Edward Thomas, his sister described him as upset and ‘crying his eyes out’. Before heading home he told her: ‘This is going to be my last night’.
In the morning when Ms Smith went to Kevin’s home she looked through the window and discovered he had hung himself. She got back in her car and went to friends for help before the police were called. “I just wanted to go and get them and make things better,” she said.
Mr Thomas said that even if Ms Smith had acted straight away it would not have made any difference as Kevin had been dead for some time.
“He would have died very quickly, I can assure you of that,” he told the family.
A post mortem examination revealed alcohol, cocaine and cannabis in Kevin’s system, although the Class B drug can remain present for up to two weeks after using it.
“There was alcohol and cocaine and the effect of both can make you very low,” said Mr Thomas. “If you are miserable it can make you more miserable.”
He recorded that Kevin died of asphyxiation and had taken his own life while the balance of his mind was disturbed.
Mr Thomas said: “It is very sad because he was obviously someone who, most of the time, was great fun to be with.”
He told the family that a note had been left on the kitchen side by Kevin and handed it to his parents in an envelope after closing the inquest.