Grieving Neath dad found dead two years exactly after his son

A GRIEVING dad hanged himself almost exactly two years after his son died in the same way.

Michael Jeffreys discovered son Jason's body at the younger man's Neath home in June, 2010.

But in June this year, 60-year-old Mr Jeffreys' body was found hanged at his home in Heol y Glyn, Cymmer.

An inquest into his death heard he never got over Jason's death and became increasingly withdrawn.

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Mr Jeffreys, known as Mickey, was an out-of-work labourer who was said to have been loving, caring and generous, and someone everyone in the family could turn to.

PC Jonathan Uzzell, who read out a police report into the death, said: "The death of Jason really hit him hard. He became very quiet and wasn't himself again."

The inquest heard it put a strain on his marriage until his wife Audrey told him it could no longer go on that way.

On June 6 this year she went to Port Talbot Civic Centre to inquire about alternative housing.

When she returned, he hugged and kissed her, telling her not to worry about anything, that everything would be all right.

Mrs Jeffreys then took their son out for around 90 minutes. When she returned she started to go upstairs and could see the attic door open and an object across the open doorway.

An hysterical Mrs Jeffreys ran into neighbour Karen Thomas's home. It was Mrs Thomas who found Mr Jeffreys hanged in the attic.

Asked whether she ever thought her husband would harm himself, she said: "Never. He always said he wouldn't."

She added: "If there were 1,000 people in the room I would have picked him out as the one who wouldn't have done it."

Mrs Jeffreys said that, although her husband had been to see his GP for different ailments, she knew he wanted help.

"I think he knew he was depressed," she said. "He just wouldn't admit it."

Coroner Philip Rogers said: "This is a very sad case that happened not quite two years after his son died in the very same way.

"That deeply affected Mr Jeffreys. It was something he didn't seem able to ask for help about, something that he bottled up."

The coroner recorded a verdict that Mr Jeffreys took his own life.