Killed by the credit crunch: Father hanged himself after being 'harassed' for failing to keep up with his mortgage

Karl Harrison, 40, lost his job as a surveyor amid the slowdown in the housing market and, according to his family, was being harassed over home loan and council tax payments.

On May 21, after dropping Julie, his wife of 20 years, at work he went back home. She later found him hanged in the garden shed.

Credit crunch suicide: Karl Harrison with granddaughter Demi-Lee, one week before he killed himself because he was under intense financial pressure

Yesterday Mrs Harrison, also 40, said the family owed only £2,400 in back payments and she had seen no signs that her 'proud' husband would take his own life.

'He felt very low because he was not working, the whole family was under a lot of pressure - we feared we were going to lose our house,' she added. 'We were being harassed for payments. It was that pressure that caused this. This must be affecting so many other people as well.

'He was a proud and popular man. We had been together since we were 17, he was my childhood sweetheart and we all miss him so much and wish he was back with us.'

Loss: Julie Harrison and son Sean said his debts had become too much

Mr Harrison, from Amlwch, Anglesey, had two sons, Sean, 20, and Daniel, 16, and had recently become a grandfather.

Sean said: 'He was the man of the family, he felt he was letting everyone down because he was out of work, even though we did not think that but he was.

'He was not just my dad, he was my best mate as well. I was with him 24/7 and I will truly miss him.'

At the inquest into Mr Harrison's death this week, North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said: 'It is becoming an increasingly common feature in cases like these for there to be mortgage problems because of the economic situation, the credit crunch.

'I expect there will be more of these cases in the future.'

Family man: Mr Harrison, pictured in 1990 with wife Julie and son Sean

According to Land Registry documents, the couple's mortgage was with Oakwood Homeloans Ltd, which Credit Suisse took a majority stake in two years ago. Neither company would comment yesterday.

Anglesey Council said it had not been taking legal action against the couple.

Mr Pritchard Jones recorded a verdict of suicide.