LANDSCAPE gardening businessman Lourens Coetzer sent a text to his partner who was upstairs before taking his own life an inquest has heard.

Mr Coetzer, who was originally from South Africa, died on September 25, last year, at the home he shared with his partner in Tenzing Gardens.

The 33-year-old is said to have had a history of depression and anxiety dating back as far as 2010.

He moved to England in 2002 and relocated to Swindon in 2014 after previously living in London as a computer analyst.

At his inquest in Salisbury on Friday, assistant coroner David Coward heard written statements from a number of people including Mr Coetzer's partner.

He said: “On September 24, I returned from work around 8.30pm and found him lying on the sofa with a duvet in the living room listening to music. He seemed his usual self.

“While I was upstairs, I received a text message from him that said ‘I love you, you deserve better and I’m OK with that’. I replied with a text ‘lol keep well, talk later’.

“I wasn’t concerned about receiving the text.

“I went to sleep and I woke up at 6.30am and I went to the bedroom next door where he would stay sometimes and the downstairs lounge. After checking the house, I checked the only place left – the garage.

“His death came as a shock to everyone as he had just booked flights to go back home to visit his family.”

There was also evidence given by PC Craig Beales, the officer leading the case, who said while there was no evidence of foul play, officers did find a plate with white powder on in the kitchen drawer.

He said: “We thought the white powder was an illegal substance. There were also alcohol bottles which his partner said had been consumed in the days up to his death.”

This was backed up in the pathologist report who said the medical cause of death was compression of neck structures by ligature.

In Mr Coetzer's system, there was 246mg of alcohol per litre of blood which was described as being in a “drunk state”.

There were also traces of cocaine, metabolites and prescribed antidepressants which were recorded as only peaking at recreational levels.

Concluding, Mr Coward said that based on the evidence he had heard, including that Mr Coetzer had been suffering with anxiety for a number of years, he came to a verdict of suicide.

“He had also a longstanding history of depression dated back to 2010 and he also had a brief history of self-harm," said Mr Coward.

“He died on September 25 at his house due to compression of neck structures in ligatures and he intended to take his own life.

“My conclusion is based on suicide beyond a reasonable doubt.”