Coroner rules Cox Green man with history of drug abuse took own life

A 38-year-old man who had a history of drug abuse hanged himself, an inquest heard on Tuesday.

Gurinder Jasvir Rana, of Lambourne Drive, committed suicide at his home on Thursday, February 23.

At the inquest at Reading Town Hall, his brother Dalvir Singh Rana said he had known about his brother’s drug problem for 15 years.

He found him hanging in the attic, the entrance to which had been blocked; there were drugs on the table of his living room.

Mr Rana said his brother also suffered from paranoia and had taken the wires out of TVs and smashed a laptop.

Assistant coroner Ravi Sidhu read a statement from Paul England, who was in a relationship with Mr Rana and who described him as a happy, outgoing and generous person, who was honest about his history of drug abuse.

Mr Rana had recently started a new role at the Houses of Parliament and had been ‘extremely stressed’ and ‘unable to cope’.

He was suspended from his job in the autumn and in December he found out his role would be terminated. He decided not to fight the result.

Mr England’s statement read: “He would not have committed suicide if not under the influence of drugs.”

The inquest also heard Mr Rana had attempted to commit suicide before.

A toxicology report found he was under the influence of drugs but the level was not toxic.

The coroner recorded a finding of suicide.

He said, while there was an element of depression, and despite the fact he was under the influence of drugs, Mr Rana had sufficient awareness of what he was doing, including getting into the attic and blocking access to it.

He said: “He was able to draw some happiness from time to time and he may have summed it up perfectly by saying he had a self-destruct button and he pressed it.”