A GRIEVING wife told an inquest she felt let down by the medical profession after her husband was taken off anti-depressants just before he killed himself.

Raymond Christie, from Kennedy Avenue, Melksham, was found hanging in his garage just two weeks after a psychiatrist's report said he no longer needed to stay on medication.

At an inquest in Salisbury on Thursday, Mr Christie's widow, Margaret, said she knew her husband was de-pressed and needed help.

But a medical report before he died said he no longer needed his medication.

Mrs Christie told the inquest: "He was in such a state the night before and that was when we knew something had to be done. We have got this feeling we have been let down by the medical profession. We were astounded Dr Hamid would find him in good health. That is the real problem that we have had to deal with.

"He had lost a lot of weight and was not the same person he once was.

"I don't know how he fooled everybody into thinking he was okay."

In a statement, Dr El Awad Hamid, a consultant psychiatrist at Green Lane Hospital, Devizes, said after meeting Mr Christie on February 3 he deemed his condition was improving.

Deputy Coroner Richard van Oppen returned a verdict of hanging.

He said his job was not to impart blame but would adjourn his verdict if there were still questions Mrs Christie wanted answered.

"If there has been negligence then I want to know about it," he said.

"There is a difference between negligence and a mistake. Everybody can get it wrong sometimes. Family can get it wrong and counsellors can get it wrong. What is clear is Raymond suffered from depression. On this particular day it might have been some bad experience that caused him on the spur of the moment to go to the garage and end his life. I'm satisfied Raymond Christie suffered from depression, he took his own life and the balance of his mind was disturbed."

Mr Christie hanged himself in his garage on February 20 while his wife was asleep inside their home.

Neighbours found him after they heard the family dog barking repeatedly.

Verdict: Suicide