THE WIDOW of a North Yorkshire man who killed himself by inhaling carbon monoxide fumes in his car told an inquest how she tried to prevent him driving away with a hosepipe attached to the car.

North Yorkshire coroner Jeremy Cave also heard how distraught Susan Turner, of The Old Orchard, Marton-cum-Grafton, later found her husband's car and made a desperate attempt to revive him.

Mr Cave had words of comfort for Mrs Turner at the inquest on Peter Turner, 49.

He told her: "I do not think you should be feeling guilty about this. You can't turn the clock back, I'm afraid".

The Harrogate hearing was told Mr Turner had got into his Ford Granada after he and his wife argued on the evening of December 13 last year.

Mrs Turner said she had been throwing pots at the car in an effort to stop her husband.

"I now realise I should have, instead of throwing pots at the car, I should have pulled out the hose," she said. "I just wanted him out of the car".

Later, at 10pm, Mr Turner drove away from their home, she said.

His car was found with its engine running at 8.30am the next day by local man Alan Bowman at Golcar Lane, Marton-cum-Grafton.

In a statement he said a hosepipe ran from the exhaust into the car through a door window. He cut the pipe with a knife and alerted the emergency services.

PC Peter Nicholson, of Boroughbridge police, said Mr Turner was dead at the scene.

Mrs Turner also noticed the car as she returned from a doctor's appointment, and she tried unsuccessfully to revive her husband.

Letters typed by Mr Turner two months earlier and addressed to his wife and sons were later produced, Mr Cave said.

"These are unusually detailed and certainly do state personal matters which indicate that the deceased's state of mind indicates that he was considering ending things," he said.

The coroner recorded a verdict that Mr Turner killed himself.

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