Depressed actor committed suicide (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Depressed actor committed suicide

5:05pm Thursday 12th April 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A television actor took his own life after becoming depressed at being unable to sell his home, an inquest has heard.

Colin Tarrant, who played Inspector Andrew Monroe in ITV's The Bill for more than a decade, found out the sale of his London house had fallen through for a second time a day before he attempted suicide.

The 59-year-old was found by his partner in the bathroom of his home in the Hotwells area of Bristol on the morning of January 25. The father of two had suffered a number of knife wounds, the inquest in Flax Bourton, near Bristol, was told.

Mr Tarrant was taken to the Bristol Royal Infirmary but died the following day.

On January 24 he visited his GP with his partner Sabrina Morris because he had been feeling depressed about his financial problems. The inquest heard that his GP, Dr Nicholas Ring, had found he was suffering from moderately severe depression.

"He was very negative about the chances of selling the property," Dr Ring said in a statement read to the court. The GP added that he wanted to see Mr Tarrant again in a couple of weeks for a follow-up appointment.

The following morning Miss Morris, who was the mother of Mr Tarrant's young son Louis, heard him downstairs and then heard him climb the stairs, enter the bathroom and shut the door.

"An amount of time passed and Miss Morris thought she could hear Mr Tarrant crying and so went to the bathroom to investigate," Det Con Smith, who investigated Mr Tarrant's death, said.

She found him with several knife wounds and immediately called for an ambulance. A post mortem examination found the actor had died from complications caused by multiple stab wounds.

Mr Tarrant's family, including Miss Morris and his elder son Juma Woodhouse, attended the 30-minute hearing. They heard Deputy Avon Coroner Terry Moore record a verdict of suicide.