A “lovely and friendly” window cleaner who suffered from schizophrenia died from a combination of prescription drugs, cocaine and alcohol.

Simon Jeffrey, 39, was last seen alive just after midnight on February 7 by his partner Gemma Richards, when he was asleep on the sofa in their home in Woodcut, Penenden Heath.

But when she tried to wake him as she prepared to leave for work the following morning he was unresponsive.

During an inquest at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone on Monday, senior coroner for Mid Kent and Medway, Patricia Harding, heard Mr Jeffrey had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and suffered with back pain.

He had been prescribed a number of tablets to help ease the pain but he had complained that cocodamol was no longer working.

On the night before his death he had told Miss Richards his two daughters meant the world to him but also said she “would be better off without him”.

Following his death police found Mr Jeffrey had searched on his mobile phone for the best way to take his own life, but Ms Harding recorded his death as a narrative conclusion.

"He tried hard to support his young family...”

A Go Fund Me page set up on behalf of Mr Jeffrey’s family has raised £685 since his death.

On the page a statement read: “Simon was a lovely, friendly man who always did the school runs and probably cleaned a lot of your windows locally too.

“Work was very tight for him but he tried hard to support his young family.”

The lack of work for Mr Jeffrey unfortunately led to him and another man stealing car parts from gardens and garages and selling them on for cash.

His lawyer told magistrates his crime was one of desperation due to poor weather conditions affecting his flow of work as a window cleaner.

Anybody who would like to donate to Mr Jeffrey's family can do so by following this link.

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