A WEALTHY builder hanged himself from rafters in his garage, an inquest heard last week.

Company director Jeffrey Holdrup, 51, of the Mill House, Colney Heath, committed suicide in May following marital problems and stress at work.

The inquest, in Hemel Hempstead, heard Mr Holdrup had tried to kill himself a month previously by taking an overdose of 100 paracetamol tablets.

Mr Holdrup was found hanging in the triple garage at The Mill House on the morning of Monday, May 11, by his secretary, Deborah Cross.

Ms Cross told the inquest that on the previous Friday, shortly after a visit from his bank manager, Mr Holdrup had spoken to her about hanging himself in his garage.

She added: "When I walked into the office on Monday morning, I noticed the back door was open.

"I found an envelope lying on his desk, addressed to me, in his handwriting.

"Because of what he had said on Friday, I just went straight to the garage, where I found him."

Mr Holdrup hanged himself from a nylon strap around his neck, attached to a makeshift harness tied between two of the rafters. There was a step ladder at his feet.

Anthony Carr, the coroner's officer, estimated Mr Holdrup had been dead for three hours when he was found shortly after 9am.

He told the inquest: "The harness of ropes between the rafters was tied in quite a complex way, and would have taken some time to do.

"My impression was that the harness had been constructed previously, and the nylon strap had only just been put on."

As well as the suicide note he wrote to his secretary, Mr Holdrup left another in his office to his wife and business partner, Bridget, from whom he was separated.

Neither suicide note was read out at the inquest.

The last person to see Mr Holdrup alive was his friend, John Priday, who visited him on the evening before his death.

Mr Priday said: "I was with him for about an hour. He said he was going through difficult times, but was talking about the future optimistically."

Coroner Edward Thomas said: "Suicide should never be presumed, because quite often people simply intend to draw attention to an unhappy situation rather than to take their life.

"However, the note to his wife and what he said to his secretary give a clear indication of Mr Holdrup's intention to kill himself."

The coroner recorded a verdict that Mr Holdrup killed himself.

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