A GRIEVING bride, whose husband overdosed on prescription drugs, has hit out at the health system for allowing him to obtain the medication.

Paul Goulding, of Watercroft, Warndon, Worcester, was found slumped at the bottom of his stairs with empty tablet containers beside him, on the evening of Tuesday, April 8 - a month after his wedding.

An inquest was told yesterday that the former Granada sales manager, aged 25, had been undergoing treatment for depression, since his mother's death when he was 15.

Since then, he had made numerous attempts to kill himself - including overdosing on prescription drugs, poisoning himself on car exhaust fumes and electrocuting himself.

On Monday, April 7 - the day before he died - Mr Goulding had visited hospital to obtain a repeat prescription of his medication, saying his own supplies had run out.

"He claimed his own medicine had been removed and he needed it to cope with the situation," said coroner Victor Round, reading a statement from Dr Vijay James, of Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

"He also denied having any destructive thoughts. When I asked him, he said he had to be strong for Hayley."

However, Hayley, his widow, told the inquest there should have been checks in place to stop him securing additional drugs.

"They knew he had a history of depression but they gave him a lot more pills anyway," she said.

The inquest heard yesterday how he had taken dangerous quantities of two depressants - diazapam and fluoxetine - - and a fatal dose of a third, chloral hydrate.

An "affectionate" note was found on top of a cupboard, although the coroner could not confirm when exactly it had been written.

However, he was satisfied the incident was an open-and-shut case.

"There were no signs of any theft or that anyone else had been involved," said Mr Round.

"There was some swelling to the brain, which is related to his passing out, but there were no bruises and no sign of injuries.

"The cause of death was an overdose of chloral hydrate and the verdict is that he took his own life."

Worcestershire Mental Health Trust later said it was unable to comment.