A NET maker took his own life at a play park five days before he was due to be sentenced for child porn offences.

Trevor Symonds, 37, of Bridport, admitted charges of making and distributing indecent images of children in September 2020.

He was due to be sentenced at crown court, but the case kept getting pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

An inquest at Bournemouth Town Hall heard the impending court case was one of several worries that drove Mr Symonds to take his own life on December 4 last year.

Mr Symonds had been under the care of the community mental health team since 2015, following his involvement with a previous court case.

On that occasion he had been accused of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl and stood trial in 2014 but was acquitted of the offence.

He told his mental health care worker, Simon Parker, that despite the acquittal he believed he had let everybody down and work colleagues had made derogatory comments about him.

In May 2020 he was charged with three offences of making indecent images of children and three charges of distributing indecent images and pleaded guilty in September.

The case was sent to Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing but the date kept getting pushed back.

Mr Parker said in September 2020 Mr Symonds told him the impending court case was a 'weight on his shoulders', but he hoped once it had been dealt with he could get on with his life and talked about moving away from Dorset.

Mr Symonds also told him he felt intimidated and ostracised by the public and had even been assaulted by an acquaintance.

Mr Symonds was due to be sentenced on December 9, but hung himself on the morning of December 4.

He was found by a dog walker just before 8am at a play park in Bridport.

His brother Steven Symonds told the inquest he had previously worked for Huck Nets and making nets for that play park was one of his last jobs there.

Police found a handwritten note in his pocket that said he 'can't do this anymore' and 'sorry to his family'.

The inquest heard Mr Symonds' mental health had been affected by Covid restrictions.

He had effectively been made redundant from his job and lost his social connections as the local football team he supported were not allowed to play.

He spent most of his time in his studio flat and said he felt isolated and lonely.

It had also been the 25th anniversary of his mother's death on November 30.

His brother told the inquest he had seen Trevor the day before his death and he seemed his 'happy self' and was looking forward to watching the local football team on the Saturday.

But he said his brother had worries and had tried to kill himself previously.

Steven Symonds said: "There were a couple of unsavoury characters in Bridport he owed money to, which worried him. He would borrow money to gamble to pay back debts, which doesn't work.

"I took care of his money for him. It got to October and his firm stopped paying him furlough but told him there would be no work til March 2021.

"He was on a zero hours contract. We only had enough money for him til Christmas so he was worried about being homeless at Christmas.

"The sentencing hearing date got shifted backwards. It was a lot of weight on his shoulders, he wanted to get it over and done with."

Assistant Coroner Richard Middleton said: "In December 2020 he was dealing with an impending sentencing hearing that had been put off a number of times. That together with the elements of isolation due to the restrictions of Covid 19 had an effect on his state of mind."

He ruled Trevor Symonds died as a result of suicide by hanging.

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