A "HAPPY-go-lucky" dad-of-two hanged himself from the roof of his garage the day before he and his family were due to be evicted from their home for failing to keep up with mortgage repayments.
Part-time postman Duncan Wilby, aged 39, didn't tell wife Mandy about his financial problems - which had left him nearly £1,500 in arrears and facing eviction for the third time in 12 months.
On two previous occasions his sister Dawn Hyde had paid
off his debts and the family - which includes his eight and five-year-old daughters - were saved from the bailiffs.
But on February 15 he received another letter demanding £1,421 or face eviction on March 6.
Instead the day before, on March 5, he took some rope and suspended himself from the roof of the garage at the house in Ash Street, Wombwell, Barnsley.
He was found by Mandy still alive when she returned home from work at around 5.30pm. She had tried to call him about 45 minutes earlier to tell him she had been successful in a new job interview.
Despite efforts from her, the neighbours and the paramedics to save him, Duncan died later that day in Barnsley District General Hospital. The letter about the impending eviction was found in his pocket.
Mandy, who had been in a relationship with Duncan for 14 years and married to him since July 1999, told a Sheffield inquest she had no idea about their money problems.
The court heard Ms Hyde had bought the couple their house outright in 2000, meaning they had no mortgage to pay. Duncan was out of work whilst undergoing assessments to control his epilepsy, and Mandy was expecting their first child.
After the birth of their second child the pair decided to take out a £24,000 mortgage on the two bed terrace to pay for renovation work.
Mandy said she believed that the £341.66 repayments were being met each month.
"I wasn't aware of any issue with that," she said, "I always asked if everything was up to date and he assured me that everything was. I had no reason to doubt it."
Mandy added there was nothing of concern about his behaviour on the day he died.
"He was normal Duncan - happy-go-lucky," she said.
Assistant deputy coroner Donald Coutts-Wood recorded an open verdict.
READ MOREMain news indexLettersCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport.The full article contains 432 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
