AN Oldbury father who fell from a motorway bridge was a "sensitive” man who "took things to heart", an inquest heard.

Ian David Goodall, aged 30, of Heron Road, was killed after being hit by several vehicles on an unlit section of the M5 on November 1.

Smethwick Coroners Court heard on Friday (December 19), that Mr Goodall, who fitted self service scanners at supermarkets, had been at a Halloween party the night before, where he had consumed alcohol and taken cocaine.

When he returned home with a friend, his partner, Gemma Walker said it was clear he "wasn't himself".

She told the inquest: "I knew he had been drinking and taking drugs.

“I was telling him to go to bed, the noise level was getting a bit ridiculous and our son was asleep upstairs."

Miss Walker said Mr Goodall's friend had taken him outside to "calm down" and she had called her father to pick her and her son up as she "didn't want to be at home".

She continued: "I tried to call Ian about six times but he cut off my call each time, so I sent him a text telling him that I loved him and I was at my dad's. I saw it had been read but he didn't reply."

The inquest was told that at around 4am, Mr Goodall had got into a taxi alone and asked the driver to go to Old Hill.

However when the car passed the bridge in Penncricket Lane, Oldbury, the father-of-two asked the driver to stop, paid the fare and got out.

PC Abigail Jones told the inquest that police were called at 4.11am to reports that someone had fallen from the bridge.

She said despite motorists' best attempts to slow traffic, several vehicles had collided with Mr Goodall, including HGVs.

The inquest was told police found no evidence to suggest that Mr Goodall was pushed and his belongings had been retrieved from the carriageway.

PC Jones told the inquest that two weeks prior to his death, Mr Goodall had confessed to a friend that he had thought about jumping from the bridge but the comment was not taken seriously.

Black Country Coroner Zafar Siddique, said: "He was a sensitive person who was prone to low mood and took things to heart.

"It's a tragedy when a young man with his whole life ahead of him, a secure job and loving family and friends, chooses to take his own life."

Mr Siddique concluded that Mr Goodall had committed suicide.