Journalist Huw Weekes was found drowned on a beach after taking an overdose of sleeping pills, an inquest has heard.

He was a presenter at HTV and used to work at the Weston-super-Mare Mercury and the Bristol Evening Post.

He was last seen on TV the day before he died, presenting the lunchtime bulletin.

The inquest in Cardiff heard he had been suffering from depression for three months before his death in January and had just returned to work after several weeks' sick leave.

One of his colleagues, Tara Eugene, told the hearing that Mr Weekes phoned her on the night before he was found dead and told her he had driven to a remote car park.

She said: "He said he had bought a bottle of wine and he had his sleeping tablets and he was going to go take them and freeze.

"But a car came and he said he saw it as a sign not to do anything."

Miss Eugene said after the phone call she tried to contact him at his flat in Cardiff without success and phoned Mr Weekes's sister to express her concern.

The sister called at his flat in Cardiff where he stayed when he was working but when she got no reply she assumed he had gone to bed as he had to be in the television studio early the next morning.

The 43-year-old's body was found the next morning near the shoreline at Boverton Beach in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The cause of death was given as drowning due to an overdose of Temazepam.

The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure and said he did not feel it "beyond all reasonable doubt that Mr Weekes did kill himself".

After the inquest Mr Weekes's brother Gareth read a statement on behalf of the family, which said: "Huw's death leaves an enormous gap in our family. He was a great family man and a wonderfully entertaining character. We all miss him terribly.

"The family always believed that Huw's death was most probably an accident, which occurred while he was in a confused state of mind. We accept the verdict of the coroner now that the facts have been heard."

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