An inquest into the death of Jacob Gannon, 27, heard he earned a “substantial income” both from the family timber and pallet business he ran with his dad, and properties he rented. Mr Gannon lived with his girlfriend at a flat in the Leigh Sports Village development and enjoyed frequent foreign holidays. However, his mental health deteriorated after he claimed his drink was spiked with the party drug ketamine at a New Year rave.
His family said he became paranoid, anxious and suffered from lack of sleep. Mr Gannon’s body was discovered on March 22 by his brother Jack, after his family became worried they could not contact him. It was the day after Mr Gannon had attended an assessment meeting with a mental health team and the day before he was due to fly to Berlin on holiday with his partner Carla Doughty, which she had booked as her Christmas present to him.
The inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard Mr Gannon had a “very supportive family”, but he had suffered a bad reaction in the past on the rare occasions he had experimented with illicit drugs, such as nitrous oxide balloons. However previously he had been able to bounce back. His mum Sarah Gregory said: “Everything seemed to be working out for Jacob and his life seemed to be on the right track.
However after he took a substance, believed to be ketamine, at a New Year’s party everything changed. He reacted badly and it had an effect on his mental well-being.” At an assessment meeting arranged for Mr Gannon, the mental health team said he was reluctant to engage with them but there was no indication he was at risk of harm as he had long-term plans for the future.
His mum Sarah told the inquest she had “begged for help” but was ignored. She said her son’s paranoid state of mind also meant he was “terrified” of being sectioned under the Mental Health Act. She told the coroner Michael Pemberton she was also unhappy that staff had mixed up a drugs test taken at the consultation, which they said showed up as positive when it had in fact been negative.
Ms Gregory said: “He was an absolute gentleman, and a loving and caring young man.” A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as hanging and Mr Pemberton concluded the death was a suicide. He said: “Jacob will be a missed sibling, partner and son, and his loss is something his family will take a considerable time to come to terms with.
"He was assessed the day before he was found at his home address and some aspects of that assessment were not optimal. "However there was no indication of a suicidal ideation provided by Jacob and the discovery was devastating to his family. "I am so sorry for your loss and the ‘why’ is something that will remain with you for some considerable time.
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