AN inquest has heard how a man described as ‘generous to a fault’ had come to take his own life following a dispute with his partner.

Michael Arthur Orland Hallett died on May 17, 2019 at the age of 61 due to carbon monoxide poisoning, Cockermouth Coroner’s Court was told.

Mr Hallett of Orchard Road in Bardsea, formerly worked as a project manager in Lytham St Annes before moving to Bardsea to be closer to his partner Denise Lebreton following his retirement in 2015.

The coroner was told she gave a statement which spoke about how they had decided to live together after knowing one another for around 20 years and described how they had fallen out the night before Mr Hallett’s death.

“He was so laid back he was almost horizontal, but sometimes he could go from zero to 100 over trivial things,” Ms Lebreton told the court.

“He had threatened to hit me and the dog which he had never done before, at that moment I didn’t want him anywhere near me. He was the chairman of the Malt Kiln village hall in Bardsea which really stressed him out. It was a lot to take on for him.”

She went on to talk of how she had heard him moving about in the garden on the evening of May 16, 2019 but had not known what he was doing as she was semi-asleep. The next day she found him lying in the greenhouse.

Ms Lebreton also spoke of how she had found a suicide note from Mr Hallett 18 months prior to his death explaining that he had been looking into ways to kill himself, however he had not acted on it.

Karen Tyler, Mr Hallett’s sister, said in a statement: “Our father died when Michael was 16 which was a difficult time for him. He was an easy going man and we were on the phone at least twice a week. He was generous to a fault and willing to help anyone in need.”

The toxicology report into his death showed a presence of carboxyhemoglobin at 67 per cent which is consistent with levels of carbon monoxide poisoning, which was given as the cause of death by the pathologist.

In her conclusion, coroner Kally Cheema, said: “It is more likely than not that he took his own life.

“My conclusion is that this was a suicide by way of carbon monoxide poisoning.”