Open verdict in Woolworths death

Russell Ward had been treated for mental health problems

An open verdict has been returned into the death of a man who slashed himself across the throat in a high street shop in Cornwall.

Russell Ward, 27, died within minutes following the incident in Woolworths in September 2007.

He was undergoing treatment for mental health issues at the time and had recently had his medication changed.

Coroner Dr Emma Carlyon said that the evidence was not clear to warrant the legal standard of proof for suicide.

Medication changed

The inquest in Truro heard that Mr Ward had undergone treatment for mental health problems for several years.

It was also told that his medication had been changed two weeks prior to his death.

On the day of his death, Mr Ward's family had made a doctor's appointment for him, and his mother had called him minutes before the incident to remind him of the appointment.

Evidence was also given to the court that Mr Ward had been using painkillers that had not been prescribed to him and occasionally the illegal drug GHB.

However, there was no trace of GHB in Mr Ward's system on the day he died.