A MAN tried to get his girlfriend to join him in a suicide pact, an inquest heard yesterday.

Lee Skidmore, 26, was found dead at their home in Loftus, east Cleveland, after taking at least 60 pills alongside pints of cider.

Susan Appleby, mother of their young daughter, told how Mr Skidmore tried to force some tablets into her mouth.

Miss Appleby, who was not at the inquest, stated to a coroner's officer that her partner said: "Let's go together."

She said she struggled with Mr Skidmore and managed to escape from their home in Willow Walk, Loftus, to stay with her mother.

Miss Appleby returned the next day to find him collapsed on the floor of their living room.

Coroner's officer Gary Halstead said Miss Appleby also stated that Mr Skidmore lost his temper when she arrived home from a night out and told him that someone was after him.

Mr Halstead said she claimed that Mr Skidmore told her: "You have sent me to my deathbed."

Teesside Coroner Michael Sheffield said Mr Skidmore had drug and alcohol problems.

He said: "Miss Appleby's statement was not made on oath, but I am satisfied that it would require a determined effort to consume in excess of 60 tablets and the police found no suspicious circumstances."

Mr Sheffield recorded a verdict that Mr Skidmore, an unemployed labourer, killed himself on March 26, last year.