Gerald Mellin left a note with his funeral wishes, the inquest heard A depressed businessman going through a divorce killed himself with a rope he had shown his wife two weeks earlier, an inquest has heard. Gerald Mellin, 54, of Neath, cancelled his life insurance and ran up debts in order to leave his 33-year-old wife with nothing. He sent her a text saying "Congratulations XXX" and that was the last time she heard from him. Swansea coroner Phillip Rogers recorded a verdict of suicide. Mr Mellin's widow Mirrielle told the hearing she had won a court order the day before her husband's suicide for an extra £100 a week from him to help with the running of the house. Gerald created the debt because he always said if I left him he would leave me with nothing

Mirrielle Mellin Early on 14 September 2007, Mr Mellin used the rope along with open top Aston Martin DB7 to kill himself in a car park on Mumbles Road in Swansea. A suicide note was found in Mr Mellin's pocket detailing his funeral wishes. The hearing was told Mr Mellin owned a gym and sun tanning centre, where his wife worked as a beautician. 'Laughed' The couple married in 2002 but had split up in 2007 and Ms Mellin continued living in their farmhouse at Crumlin, near Neath. She told the court: "Our marriage was horrendous most of the time. After we split he phoned me and said he wanted to do a deal with selling the business. "He had been to see an accountant but the way he did it was all wrong. I said it was about time we stopped arguing and started behaving like adults. "That was when I met him in the pub and he showed me the rope. "As we made our way back to our cars he opened the boot and said 'there's my rope, that's what I'm going to kill myself with'. "I told him to grow up and give me the rope. But he just laughed." 'Anxiety' ""He would say suicidal thoughts, but I never actually believed that he would do anything. It was always a cry for help with Gerald. That's why I find it hard to believe this time around," she said. Ms Mellin told the hearing she would have to sell the farmhouse to pay the debts. She said: "Gerald created the debt because he always said if I left him he would leave me with nothing." Det Con Ceri John said Mr Mellin was being treated for depression at the time of his death and was first seen by a psychiatrist for anxiety at the age of four. Mr Rogers recorded the cause of death as decapitation. He said: "On the evidence I have heard - notwithstanding Mrs Mellin's view of her husband's actions in the past and on this occasion that this was a cry for help - I'm satisfied no-one could have done what Mr Mellin did without realising the consequence of such an action would be his own death." Update 28 June 2014: This story was amended for editorial reasons.



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