A COUNTY champion bridge player and award winner took his own life in the wake of a second coronavirus lockdown, an inquest has heard.

Colin Woods was found dead at the age of 71 in his home on Collingwood Street in Barrow on November 23, 2020, Cockermouth Coroner’s Court was told.

The Ulverston-born man who grew up in Askam was said to be a talented runner in his youth, according to brother Dereck Woods, but this was derailed following his diabetes diagnosis.

“I visited him on a by-weekly basis as he did not have a washing machine so I would come to take his washing and this was good because it meant I got to spend time with my brother,” Dereck Woods said in a statement.

“He was a hardworking and generous man and would always fight for what he thought was right.

“Lockdown took its toll on Colin as it disrupted his routine, and it meant his bridge club had to stop meeting.”

Mr Woods explained that he found his brother unresponsive during one of his regular visits and called the emergency services and the retired BAE Systems accountant was later pronounced dead.

Police sergeant Holly Bee found a note left by Colin Wood which explained he had intended to take his life if he was to be put into a nursing home later in life but said that lockdown was the reason he had decided to act upon this earlier.

His note also mentioned Barrow Bridge Club for which he had a successful career according to his brothers Keith and Dereck and even saw him become a Dimmie Fleming Award winner in 2015 for his 20-year service as treasurer by the English Bridge Union.

His biography on the British Bridge Union website said: “He is at the Cumbrian Congress every year, often the first person to welcome the visitors, with his list of entrants, taking money and sorting out the prize money, before becoming one of the players himself.”

The loss of playing bridge regularly was one thing coroner Ms Kirsty Gomersal cited as a reason for him taking his own life during the coronavirus lockdown.

Pathologist Mark Sissons explained in a statement that decomposition meant that toxicological analysis was difficult.

“Toxicological analysis has been compromised by decomposition,” he said.

“Identification of insulin and glucose in death can be difficult after decomposition.”

Dr Sissons gave a cause of death as inhalation of gastric contents with aspiration pneumonia of uncertain cause.

This cause of death was accepted by the coroner.

The Barrow man had no history of mental health problems according to his GP but the note left for his brothers was confirmed to be in his handwriting, which led coroner Ms Kirsty Gomersal - who noted in her summary that lockdown had an impact on Mr Woods - to conclude that his death was as a result of suicide.