The family of a Huddersfield man may never know why he took his own life.
Health manager Neil Bryson’s body was found at Brownhill Reservoir at Holmbridge on January 27 – two months after he abandoned his car at nearby Yateholme Reservoir.
His wife Janice had reported him missing after he failed to return to their home in Wadman Road, Scholes, on November 26 last year.
But an inquest at Huddersfield Coroner’s Court yesterday gave no explanation for why Mr Bryson, 50, a trained mental health nurse, would deliberately drown himself.
The court heard no note or documents were left in his car and his wife was not aware of anything unusual except she said ‘he kissed her longer’ the last time she saw him.
She described their home life as ‘simple’ and ‘hassle free’ saying they hardly ever argued and enjoyed holidays together each year.
She said in 2011 he had gone through ‘unpleasant upheaval’ of redundancies and change of office space in his role at Bradford District Care Trust.
The court heard he had secured a new job in a similar role in Barnsley and had been due to start in January 2013.
Coroner Tim Radcliffe heard evidence from walker Gerald Eastwood, who told how on the afternoon of January 27 he spotted a body which had come to rest at the foot of a dam bank at Brownhill Reservoir.
He said he didn’t carry a mobile phone and so walked to the game keepers’ cottage to alert Rory O’Connell and phone police.
Mr O’Connell told the court in a statement: "He told me he’d found a body in the reservoir.
"I got into my vehicle to drive to the dam that separates the two reservoirs.
"I could make out a shape in the water. I used binoculars and saw a body face down in the water."
The court heard evidence from Det Sgt Nigel Gittins, of Huddersfield, who confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Bryson’s death.
A post mortem confirmed drowning as cause of death.
Coroner Tim Radcliffe said: "It’s clear to me beyond all reasonable doubt that Neil carried out an act which was intended to bring about his death."
He told the court due to the temperature of the water Mr Bryson’s death would have been "mercifully quick".
He returned a verdict that Mr Bryson took his own life.
He expressed his sympathies to Mrs Bryson, who was present in court, and their two sons Harry, 24, and Jack, 20.
Scottish-born Mr Bryson had also worked at St Luke’s Hospital, Crosland Moor.
