Double death man 'was suicidal'

Ms Ahmed said she wanted to become a United Nations ambassador

A 33-year-old man found hanging at his Derby home had told friends he wanted to kill himself, an inquest has heard.

Khalid Peshawan's body was found near the body of his former girlfriend Halimah Ahmed, 19, in November 2007.

Ms Ahmed was found suffocated in the house which Mr Peshawan owned, Derby Coroner's Court was told.

Mr Peshawan, an Iraqi Kurd, had told friends that life "was not worth living" because he could not continue a relationship with the woman he loved.

University course

The court was also told that community psychiatric nurse Karen Stone assessed him as suicidal and said he had talked of harming his friends.

She had suggested he might need a section order to place him in hospital a few days before his death but a qualified social worker was not available.

Ms Ahmed's father Ashtiaq Ahmed told the inquest that the family was concerned for her safety because her mobile phone was turned off.

She was reported missing by the family and Mr Ahmed said he was shocked when he saw her car parked outside a house where police said two bodies had been found.

The inquest also heard that Mr Peshawan's friends said he seemed "agitated and depressed" in the weeks leading up to his death.

He was refused asylum in 2000 and was convicted of stabbing someone three years later outside a nightclub and was given a community service order.

Mr Peshawan was granted "indefinite leave to remain" in the UK in 2005.

Ms Ahmed had recently started a course in international relations at Nottingham Trent University and had told her family she wanted eventually to become a United Nations ambassador.

The family has set up the Halimah Trust to support developing countries in which their daughter was interested.

The inquest continues.