A jilted lover distraught that his ex-girlfriend was in a new relationship broke into her home and hung himself on her four-poster bed to ‘shock’ her, an inquest heard.
Matthew Nimmo died weeks after he was released from prison, where he had been serving a sentence for breaching a restraining order that banned him from contacting her.
Coroner for County Durham Andrew Tweddle said that it was unclear whether Mr Nimmo intended to kill himself or just meant to shock his ex-girlfriend and her partner when they returned home.
Detective Inspector Philip Curtis said Mr Nimmo, 35, of Darlington, County Durham, had been released from prison earlier in the year.
On Thursday May 3, Mr Nimmo went to his ex’s house in the town where there was an altercation in which he got stabbed.
Mr Curtis said four people were arrested after the incident, and it was still
being investigated when, on Tuesday, May 15, Mr Nimmo went back to the house and met his ex.
The police officer said they spent the afternoon talking to each other before they both left, with the ex-partner meeting her boyfriend and going to his mother’s house.
When the couple returned home they then discovered Mr Nimmo’s body in their bedroom and called the emergency services, Mr Tweddle heard.
Mr Curtis said neighbours were interviewed with one saying he had heard a smash at about 9pm the night before but could not see anything unusual.
He said: ‘Due to the circumstances, we made a full inquiry into Mr Nimmo’s
death but could find nothing suspicious nor anything to suggest a third party had been involved.’
Mr Tweddle said toxicology reports had found he had some alcohol and
amphetamines in his system but not enough to impair his judgement.
He said: ‘I do not know what was going on in his mind.
‘It might have been to shock them, it might have been that he was expecting them to come home sooner than they did or it might have been that he intended to take his own life.’
The coroner sitting in Crook , County Durham, on Wednesday recorded
an open verdict.
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