One of Cornish theatre's most popular and successful freelance directors who suffered from months of depression did commit suicide, an inquest heard today.

Dominic Knutton, 36, was found dead at his home in Church Road, Penryn on May 14 last year after he failed to attend a doctors appointment that afternoon.

Dr Jonathan Katz, of Penryn Surgery, said that he first saw Dominic about his depression in January 2007 after the break up of a three year relationship.

Dr Katz described Dominic as "clearly depressed with low moods and very tearful," Dominic was given medication for his condition which was changed and increased as his depression worsened.

By February Dominic was suffering from anxiety and insomnia and his mood became lower and he told Dr Katz that he had had some suicidal thoughts.

In March Dominic took a trip to Buckfast Abbey in Devon and on the morning of March 16 he tried to hang himself but failed.

After returning to Cornwall Dominic was assessed by Dr Alin Mascas, psychiatrist, at Longreach House, Redruth where he told the doctor that he had lost 1.5 stones in weight and often drank in excess to relieve his stress.

Dominic also told the doctor that he felt he was becoming old and often obsessively looked into the mirror looking for new wrinkles in his skin.

Dr Mascas said that he did not believe that Dominic wanted to die but he still considered his attempt at suicide as important.

He said: "During the assessment he did not show any signs of suicidal intentions, just symptoms of depression and anxiety. He appeared to have a build up of a lot of stress which had accumulated over one year."

Dr Mike Metcalfe, consultant psychiatrist for adults in the Falmouth area, said he considered Dominic's depression to be moderate and that towards the end he was showing signs of improvement.

Michael Knutton, Dominic's father, told the inquest that Dominic's mother had left home in Huddersfield suddenly when he was young and had suffered from mental illness and depression.

He described Dominic as a "very talented person who brought a lot of joy to many people's lives," he said that Dominic had pursued a career in acting and had small parts in television shows such as The Bill and Wycliffe and later formed the Cornish Theatre Collective which produced several highly successful plays.

He added that Dominic had previously proposed to his then long term girlfriend but she had turned him down and that his subsequent relationships had suffered because of his fear of further rejection.

Michael Knutton said that Dominic had also been depressed over a production he was working on about the Penlee Lifeboat disaster. Dominic had been in dispute with the writers over the script as he felt it would cause offence to people in Penlee and he eventually scrapped the project.

Mr Knutton said: "It was around that time that he became more and more withdrawn and he would not stop crying. But his moods would change. Some days he was depressed and others he was almost over hyper."

On the day of his death Dominic was due to attend the Penryn Surgery for an appointment and his girlfriend, Elisa had gone to see him at his home but there was no response.

Elisa then contacted Dominic's friend, Jason Squibb, who went to the house in Church Road and tried to find him. After a while they became concerned and contacted Dominic's father who knew he was due to go to the doctors.

All three then went to the surgery where they were told that Dominic had not shown up. They then called the police and went back to Dominic's house.

Mr Squib, who worked as an assistant director on several projects with Dominic, got into the house through an unlocked kitchen window and found Dominic hanging from a banister.

Mr Squibb and Michael Knutton performed CPR on Dominic but there was no response and he was later pronounced dead by paramedics.

DC Dave Lee of Falmouth Police said that he found no evidence to suggest that anyone else had been involved in Dominic's death and that he had found 10 letters on the kitchen table addressed to family and friends which expressed that he was not able to continue living.

Barry Van De Berg, coroner, recorded a verdict of suicide.