THE BODY of goalkeeper Andrew Brown was found hanging from a loft at his partner's Melksham home.

An inquest heard how 23-year-old Mr Brown tied a blue nylon rope around his neck, clambered up into the loft, tied the rope to a rafter and threw himself down the hatch on to the landing below.

Paramedics arrived at the Berryfield Park house just minutes after the gruesome discovery to find Mr Brown hanging from the loft.

Recording a verdict of suicide at an inquest held on Wednesday, March 20, deputy Wiltshire Coroner Nigel Brookes heard how police had been called to the house two months earlier, after Mr Brown slashed his wrists and throat with a razor blade. The injuries were deemed to be superficial.

Girlfriend Nicola Brooks, 28, told the coroner she was staying at her parents house in Bradford-on-Avon after an argument with Mr Brown at the time of his death.

She was moving back into her Melksham home when the body was discovered.

Miss Brooks started dating Mr Brown in October.

She said: "He left on the Thursday to go to work. We had an argument and were screaming and shouting at each other. He said he was going to stay at his friend's house but he sent me a text message in the early hours of Saturday morning and said he had left the back door unlocked. That was the last message he sent me."

Distraught father Gerald Brown, of Wilton Drive, Trowbridge, said his son had no obvious worries and never talked about committing suicide, but he had been told about the slashing incident in November.

He said Mr Brown was a "brilliant father" to his five-year-old son from a previous relationship.

Detectives combed the scene in a bid to discover clues but no suicide note was found.

DS Dave Martin, of Trowbridge CID, said a mobile phone and wallet were found in Mr Brown's possession and a yellow box was on the landing.

Pathologist Susan Burrows said Mr Brown would have died swiftly as the rope tightening around his neck triggered a fatal heart attack.

No trace of drugs or alcohol were found in his system.

Mr Brown, who worked for Wilts Wholesale Electrical, was a regular player with Trowbridge and District division two side The Dursley Arms.

Coroner Mr Brookes said Mr Brown was in the prime of his life.

"There were things he had to do in order to do what he did. Bearing in mind the rope was tied very tightly around his neck he must have known the outcome would have been death. Why he did it we shall never know."