Noise torment of suicide man

A MAN hanged himself after being driven to despair by noisy neighbours, an inquest was told yesterday.

John Vanderstam, 47, hanged himself in a garage at the home he shared with his father Adrian, 78, after becoming increasingly depressed.

He believed his father's retirement was being ruined by the neighbours who had moved in next door to their home in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham.

The inquest was told that Mr Vanderstam was a devoted son who left his father a note which read: "Now perhaps the council will do something to evict these people and you can have some peace, once again."

Coroner Dr Richard Whittington recorded a verdict of suicide, saying the noise had been a "a cogent factor" in his death.