A former barber was found hanged at his home days after he was arrested for drink-driving and told friends he would “kill himself” if sent to prison.
Max Webb, 28, took his own life on March 7 last year at his home in Barry. He was discovered by friends hanged in his living room.
The night before his death he had been in contact with an estranged ex-partner whom he was prohibited from having contact with as a result of a restraining order. But after their chance encounter at the The Park pub in Barry on March 6 Mr Webb was “in a mood” and did not engage with friends who tried to contact him.
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Following his arrest for drink-driving on March 5 Mr Webb told friend Teejay Caton he was afraid of being sent to prison and told him: “If I go to jail I will kill myself.”
An inquest held at Merthyr Tydfil Coroners’ Court on Wednesday heard the deceased was pulled over by police at around 3.06am near a McDonald’s restaurant in Ty Verlon estate. He admitted to officers he had been drinking and was found to have 76mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath – more than twice the legal drink-drive limit.
He was arrested and charged with driving with excess alcohol and was also found to be uninsured and driving with an expired provisional driving licence. A court date was pending at the time of his death.
In a statement read out to the court Mr Webb’s mother Heather Webb said: “As a result of this he became increasingly worried that on this occasion there may be a custodial sentence.” Ms Webb also told the court her son had taken the death of his father in 2010 badly and had previously tried to take an overdose.
A statement from Donna Andrews, Mr Webb’s former partner, was also read out to the court. She said they had been in a relationship for two years but had split up in 2019.
The witness added: “He did not take the separation well and the police became involved. A restraining order was eventually made and he left me alone.”
On March 6 Mr Caton said he took Mr Webb to The Park pub after work where the deceased bumped into Ms Andrews by chance and they had a brief conversation.
She said: “I said to my friend: ‘Let’s drink up’ but Max came over to me and said: ‘I just want to say sorry for everything I have done’. I said it was okay and we had both moved on. He asked to buy me a drink but I refused and we went to Ten11.”
Ms Andrews said she later received an Instagram message from an unknown account in Mr Webb’s name which said “My door is always open” but she blocked the account and deleted the message.
Giving evidence at the hearing Mr Caton said he returned home after dropping Mr Webb at the pub but after he was sent a Snapchat video of Mr Webb with Ms Andrews he tried to call the deceased and made his way to the pub.
He said: “I knew they didn’t get on Donna and Max... I asked him to leave but he said no and he stayed with Donna most of the night.”
The witness said Mr Webb’s mood changed when Ms Andrews’ friend prevented her from leaving the pub with him to go to a cash machine and Mr Webb “stormed out”. Mr Caton said he went after his friend but after offering him a lift home Mr Webb told him to “f*** off”.
Mr Caton sent texts to the deceased later that night and Mr Webb sent him a message which read: “My head’s f*****, I am literally losing it. I can’t cope anymore.”
On the morning of March 7 Mr Caton said he drove to Mr Webb’s house to pick him up for work but after receiving no reply on the phone he continued on to work.
That evening he was contacted by Mr Webb’s mother who had not been able to contact her son and he attended his friend’s address in Hill Street around 8.45am where he met up with two other friends.
Looking visibly emotional Mr Caton described the moment he discovered Mr Webb. He said: “I went through the passageway, turned the corner in the living room, and bumped into Max.”
The emergency services were called but Mr Webb was officially declared dead by a paramedic at 9.10pm.
A post-mortem examination was carried out which recorded a cause of death as hanging and a toxicology examination indicated alcohol and cocaine were in Mr Webb’s system at the time of his death.
At the end of the hearing senior coroner Graeme Hughes said: “On the balance of probabilities he intended the consequence of this deliberate act of his own death.”
A formal conclusion of suicide was recorded.
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