A RETIRED lorry driver who lost his wife to cancer hung himself because he could not go on without her.

Joseph Dennis Christie, of Boundary Way, Garston, was found dead at the home he had shared with his wife for three decades, on Tuesday, August 26.

At the inquest at the Old Courthouse, in Hatfield last Thursday, coroner Edward Thomas, said Mr Christie – known by his middle name Dennis – killed himself after finding it difficult to live without his wife.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Mr Thomas said: "He found it very difficult to come to terms with his wife's death.

"He loved his wife so much and was a kind person much loved by his family.

"He had been devoted to his wife and nursed her through her illness and died because he could not bare to be apart from her."