A WELLINGTON man who took his own life was not discovered until some time later, an inquest hearing was told.

Somerset Senior Coroner Samantha Marsh heard how Douglas Frederick James, aged 34, hanged himself in the summer of last year in his flat in Mantle Street.

But Mrs Marsh was told Mr James was not found until August 22 that year, by which time he was in a state of decomposition.

Unemployed Mr James, who also used the name Luke Benjamin Loram, was discovered after police officers were called to the house in which his flat was located and made a forced entry through the front door of the property.

Mrs Marsh, conducting proceedings in the Old Municipal Buildings, Taunton, said: “He had deliberately suspended himself from a ligature with the intention of ending his life.”

She recorded a conclusion that Bournemouth-born Mr James’s death was a case of ‘suicide’.