A TROUBLED young Wellington man, whose body was found hanging from a tree in Longforth Farm woods, had ‘deliberately suspended himself by the neck with the intention of ending his life’, an inquest was told.

Senior coroner for Somerset Tony Williams recorded a formal verdict of suicide on 22-year-old Bogdan Ivantsof after hearing how his body was found by a passer-by in a popular walking area. A post-mortem examination showed no evidence of alcohol or drugs and there was no history of self-harming.

The hearing, in Taunton, was told unemployed Ivantsof lived with his mother and step-father, Stephen Kaye, at Longforth Road, where he was a last seen on November 5. He stayed out overnight, which was not unusual, and his body was found the following day. A receipt from a local hardware store was discovered nearby.

His step-father and mother had met in Cyprus, where they married, and brought her Ukrainian-born son with them when they moved to the UK. Last summer he visited Portugal and met his father for the first time in 11 years, and was ‘withdrawn and non-communicative’ when he returned. He drifted between friends’ houses, went missing for days and would return for a shower.

On November 5 he was withdrawn and ‘had a few words’ with his mother before leaving early that afternoon without speaking, and went to a neighbour’s house. A friend said in a statement that he was last seen at about 2.30pm when he was getting ready to go to a party.

The Coroner said he was satisfied from the evidence about his behaviour that he hanged himself after buying articles ‘for this purpose’.

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