A ST ALBANS man, whose mother found him lying unconscious in his bedroom, had fatal levels of aspirin and paracetamol in his blood, a coroner's court heard on Monday, February 18.

But as there was no suicide note, an open verdict was recorded on Barry Cooney, 26, of Willow Way in Chiswell Green.

The inquest heard that Mr Cooney had been an air traffic control engineer but lost jobs at Luton Airport and later at West Drayton.

Coroner Edward Thomas read a statement from Mr Cooney's mother Wendy which said her son was waiting about another job when he died last August.

Mrs Cooney had left for work as normal that day but when she returned at 5.45pm, she found him unconscious.

After phoning the emergency services, Mrs Cooney tried to resuscitate her son who was breathing spasmodically.

Staff at Watford General Hospital also tried to revive him but was pronounced dead at 7.19pm.

His mother was unable to find empty medication bottles in the house, but it later emerged he had put the empty packets of aspirin and paracetamol back in the boxes.

His father described his son as very organised and meticulous.

A calendar and diary were found beside Mr Cooney's bed with details of arrangements he had made including an MOT for his motorcycle. But no suicide note was found despite an extensive search.

The coroner said that the absence of a note meant there was no way of knowing for certain if Mr Cooney meant to take his own life.

He told Mr Cooney's parents: "I cannot imagine the trauma you have gone through, not only in losing your son but at finding him too.