A SOUTHAMPTON lawyer who hanged himself amid family and financial troubles felt he had “lost everything”, an inquest heard.

Family barrister Stephen Cotton, 52, was found dead by his partner at his home in Sutton Scotney in September.

Friends and colleagues told the Winchester inquest he had been deeply upset by not seeing his children for nearly three weeks and had previously discussed suicide on several occasions.

Days before his suicide Mr Cotton quit his job at College Chambers in Carlton Crescent amid further troubles with his finances, lack of work and estranged wife Sarah, the inquest heard.

Mr Cotton discussed taking her to court over access to his children, aged seven and 10, but said he couldn’t afford it, the hearing was told.

Mr Cotton’s partner Elaine Gale, from Essex, stayed with him in Sutton Scotney on the weekend before he was found on Tuesday September 29.

She said: “He’d told work that he had quit, he’d lost everything, he hadn’t seen his children for just over half a month and I think he was suffering more than everyone realised.

“That was a big crossroads for him because he worked really hard to get where he was and his job meant a lot to him.”

She told how Mr Cotton cancelled a trip on the day before he was found to collect new glasses after exchanging texts with his ex-wife, Ms Gale added.

“Everything changed,” she said. “Everything changed.”

Ms Gale fought back tears as she told how Mr Cotton failed to answer her calls, prompting her to drive to Hampshire to check on him.

She found him hanging inside the house, the inquest heard. Police found no suspicious circumstances.

Mr Cotton was called to the bar in 1998 and specialised in children’s law over issues such as care and adoption.

Colleague Simon Lillington said Mr Cotton found it “quite difficult” to handle sensitive family cases at work due to his own problems.

“His resignation, if you want to call it that, wasn’t accepted because everyone recognised he wasn’t in a state to make that decision,” Mr Lillington added.

“He had intimated an intention to kill himself many times before... I don’t think I ever really believed that he would get to that low point where he would take his own life.”

Four people told the hearing that Mr Cotton had mentioned suicide, with former colleague John Reynolds reporting his concerns to the NHS.

Mr Cotton was “extremely, extremely agitated” by his problems and alcohol helped subdue his anxiety, Mr Reynolds said.

Blood tests found alcohol levels equivalent to 1.7 times the drink-drive limit in Mr Cotton’s system.

Recording a verdict of suicide, deputy central Hampshire coroner Simon Burge said: “I find as a fact that Stephen was well supported and had people he could turn to and confide in who could not have done any more than they actually did to help him.”

After the inquest, Mr Cotton’s father, David, said: “We miss our loving son.”