A FATHER of three who was found hanged on Wanstead Flats killed himself after suffering from years of severe depression, a coroner has ruled.

Saghir Ahmed, 38, was found hanging from a tree in Central Road on November 9.

He had left his home in Forest Gate at about 2.15pm, telling his wife Famida that he was going to visit his mother and see a friend, who both lived around about 10 minutes' walk away.

“He was in a good mood,” she said. “Three days before his death, we went out with our children to McDonald's and on the Sunday we all went to Pizza Hut. We can't believe he did this.”

Just over half an hour after he left the house, Mrs Ahmed tried to call him on his mobile phone, but had no reply and when she called his mother's house, she was told he had not been there.

His body was found by a jogger later in the evening.

Mr Ahmed had suffered from depression since 2005, triggered by the failure of the business he ran as a car mechanic and problems in his marriage, and had tried to kill himself several times before.

He was on a home visit from The Newham Centre for Mental Health in Plaistow, where he was waiting to be moved to a specialist depression unit, on the day of his death.

His brother, Shabaz Ahmed, said that before the depression hit he had been a “happy-go-lucky” man who doted on his daughters, aged three, seven and 11 at the time of his death.

“He was very active and enjoyed spending time with his wife and kids,” he added. “It's just a shame things have gone as far as they have.”

Mr Ahmed's consultant psychiatrist, Gary Jenkins, said everyone on the ward where he was being treated had been shocked and saddened by the news of his death, but not very surprised.

“I was hoping he might be able to find a new, specialised treatment that was still very experimental,” he said. “Everything under the sun had been tried, but everything had failed.”

He added that although he was at risk of suicide, it was important for him to have some normality outside the hospital.

Coroner Elizabeth Stearns said: “He was suffering from an illness as real as leukaemia, despite all the support from his family.

“He killed himself while suffering from a depressive illness.”