A LABORATORY worker who was concerned about his health killed himself despite getting the all-clear from a doctor, an inquest heard.

Chemical analyst Graeme Lett fed a tube, which was connected to nitrogen, into a black plastic bin liner which he pulled over his head.

He killed himself while his colleague at Uniqema, in Wilton, Paul Fegan, was on a coffee break.

On his return, Mr Fegan found a note on the closed laboratory door which read: "Paul, don't come in. You will need a medical officer. I am very sorry, very sorry."

Speaking at the inquest, Mr Fegan said: "I understood he had medical problems and I was informed he had attended the doctor's a week before he died and was given the all-clear.''

Pathologist Adrienne Mutton told an inquest jury on Teesside that a post-mortem examination revealed the 38-year-old family man died of asphyxia and that there was no evidence of any disease or injury.

His widow, Christine, a nurse, said her husband had been in a low mood due to concerns about his health prior to the family going on holiday in August 2001, a month before his death.

The jury returned a verdict of suicide.

A spokesman for chemicals company Uniqema said after the inquest: "The thoughts of everyone at Uniqema have been with the family of Graeme Lett since his death."