AN inquest heard a Halesowen man “knew exactly what he was doing” when he inflicted fatal injuries on himself.

Unemployed teacher David Smith, aged 55, spent a decade battling depression and suffered “ongoing torment” according to a witness at Dudley Coroner’s Court.

Dr Diane Webb, Mr Smith’s partner, told how he had been managing his illness by taking medication but suffered a recent relapse.

She added Mr Smith, who died from the effects of a drug overdose and stab wounds, had told her he was determined that if he attempted to end his own life he would not survive.

Dr Webb said: “He knew exactly what he was doing, in the past he had talked about it.

He said if he ever did it he would make sure.”

The court heard Mr Smith was due to start a new job in February but had slipped back into depression.

Dr Webb described how she found her partner at his home in Lutley Lane after she called police, who broke in to gain access to the property.

Mr Smith was taken by air ambulance to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham where he underwent two emergency operations but died from his injuries on March 16.

Black Country Coroner Robin Balmain told the hearing a toxicology report revealed Mr Smith’s body contained high concentrations of anti-depressants while a post mortem revealed stab wounds had caused severe damage to internal organs.

Mr Balmain concluded the cause of death was a massive haemorrhage and recorded a verdict that Mr Smith killed himself.

He said: “He left a note indicating he was intending to harm himself, this is a very sad situation.

“Mr Smith was clearly intelligent, he had got to the stage where he could not carry on, we can’t imagine what he was going through.”