Everything was normal until one day 'completely out the blue' he didn't show up for work

A much-loved brother and colleague was tragically found dead after failing to turn up to turn up for work.

Phil Lloyd's boss had asked his colleagues Terry Shortman and George Maxwell to go to his flat in Nelson Road after he didn't show up on the morning of Thursday January 25 this year.

Terry and George repeatedly knocked on the door to his flat but there was no answer. When they managed to gain entry they found the 46-year-old joiner who had clearly "been dead for a while".

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An inquest held today (June 11) at Blackpool Town Hall heard that Phil had struggled with his mental health since the Covid pandemic. However, his brother Robert, as well as his colleagues, said that it had come "completely out of the blue" that he had taken his own life.

Terry Shortman, who managed to gain entry to Phil's home with a master key he had due to his role providing maintenance at the block of flats, said that he "peeked his head round the door and could see just enough".

George, who had previously worked as a nurse, went inside and found Phil. He shouted back to Terry: "You better phone the police; he's dead."

The cause of death was given as hanging with a pathologist reporting that Phil, who was born in Sheffield, would have lost consciousness in a matter of seconds. Toxicology tests found no substances of note in Phil's body at the time of his death.

Police found no signs or indications that Phillip was suicidal or had been planning to take his own life. Detectives found no signs of a disturbance or any evidence that Phil had been the victim of a crime.

Phil's brother Robert, who attended the inquest, asked if the post mortem had been able to ascertain exactly when he had died considering there had been a period of several days during which nobody had heard from him.

Assistant Coroner Louise Rae said that "CSI-type programmes on TV often focus on the drama of when a person has died" but that, in reality, pathologists are rarely able to pinpoint a date or time of death.

Returning a conclusion of suicide, the coroner said: "Mr Lloyd had last been seen on Friday January 19 and was due to be in work the following week but didn't attend and on January 25 his employer asked colleagues to go and check on him.

"Lancashire Police thereafter received a call from the two gentlemen who attended following their discovery of Phillip's body. No note was found and I had heard evidence that while he had been a troubled soul he had never spoken of any intention to end his own life so this comes as a shock to his friends and family.

"However, his work colleagues had noted something of a deterioration in his mental health, but nothing that caused anybody any concerns that he intended to end his own life."