A man suffered from depression and anxiety for years before he was found dead at his workplace, an inquest has heard.

Wayne Mason, 49, from Lowestoft, was found dead at Claxton Engineering Ltd in Great Yarmouth on March 17 this year after his partner had become concerned for his welfare.

The inquest into his death, sitting at Norfolk County Hall on Thursday (November 24), heard evidence from managers at Claxton Engineering.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Norfolk Coroner's Court was sitting at Norfolk County Hall on Thursday, November 24.Norfolk Coroner's Court was sitting at Norfolk County Hall on Thursday, November 24.

William Robinson, commercial project manager, told the inquest that he met Mr Mason on March 3 when they discussed his mental health.

They had a discussion about what he was feeling and looked at ways the company could support him, including minimising his workload, the inquest heard.

Mr Robinson suggested Mr Mason reduce his hours and work to a curfew of 5pm.

"I left it up to him what his work routine would be," Mr Robinson said.

The inquest heard that Mr Mason's GP signed him off work for two weeks on March 10 but that he continued to go to the office.

Mr Robinson said that nobody reported back to him that Mr Mason continued to stay in the office beyond 5pm or that the was still coming in after being signed off sick.

Sarah Tarrant, HR business manager at Claxton, told the inquest she met Mr Mason in January after seeing a post on social media where he had described his mental health struggles.

From the beginning of January, until March, she had regular check-ins with him to see how he was, she said.

In March she asked Mr Robinson to speak with Mr Mason about taking time off work, the inquest heard.

She said she regarded Mr Mason's sick leave as a "positive" step.

Since Mr Mason's death, the company has set up a Wellbeing Crisis Team, Ms Tarrant said.

Samantha Goward, assistant coroner for Norfolk, recorded a conclusion of suicide.

She also said she was satisfied that since Mr Mason's death, Claxton had under taken a "thorough investigation" which resulted in a lot of work being done to improve the systems in place for dealing with employees with mental health difficulties.

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