A CORONER was not convinced that a Tilehurst man intended to take his own life, an inquest has heard.

Joseph Satchel Anthony Staniford, 26, died at the home he shared with his grandmother in Orchard Close on March 12 this year.

An inquest into his death, held at Reading Town Hall on Wednesday, September 5, revealed that Mr Staniford had been signed off work with backache for a number of months leading up to his death.

The young man lived with his grandmother, Dorothy Staniford, who said in a statement that the pair had argued on the morning of his death, and that she had found him lying at the bottom of the stairs.

She said: "I didn't know if that was a cry for help or not."

In her statement, she that Mr Staniford had been drinking heavily, but demanded money from her to buy more alcohol. When she refused, she said he stormed off to his bedroom, slamming the door so hard that several pictures fell from the walls.

It wasn't until several hours later when Mrs Staniford's son, Mr Staniford's uncle, came to the house that they found the young man unconscious in his room.

Emergency services were called to the address, but Mr Staniford was pronounced dead at the scene.

A toxicology report found that Mr Staniford had 222mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system at the time of his death, almost three times the drink drive limit.

A post-mortem revealed he died from suppression of the neck by ligature.

Enquiries with Berkshire Mental Health Team and the Drugs and Alcohol Team showed that Mr Staniford had no contact with either department, but he had been prescribed the antidepressant Sertraline by his GP in January.

Recording a narrative conclusion, the assistant coroner for Berkshire, Alison McCormick, told the inquest she was satisfied that Mr Staniford had carried out the act which led to his death, but was not convinced that he meant to take his own life.