THE SISTER of a Coleford man who killed himself at Symond's Yat reacted angrily to comments by Gloucestershire's deputy coroner.

Richard Eagle died after falling 60 feet at the beauty spot after the rope he tried to hang himself with snapped.

His sister Kathy says she cannot disagree with the verdict of suicide but she rejects the view of deputy coroner David Dooley that the 60-year-old rail enthusiast was depressed and had hidden it from family and friends.

Ms Eagle, of Christchurch, said: "What the coroner said made Richard sound like some neurotic.

"He wasn't neurotic and he wasn't depressed. If he was depressed I would have known about it.

"He couldn't hide his feelings and if he was depressed he would have gone quiet and stayed inside."

Ms Eagle said she thought it more likely that her brother had become confused after possibly having a stroke and that's what led him to kill himself.

"I knew someone who had a stroke but there were no physical signs, he just became confused.

"That's what might have happened to Richard.

"He took the smallest rope from the house to use and he would have known it wouldn't have supported his weight."

Ms Eagle said she was also unhappy that she had been refused the right to see photographs showing the full extent of his injuries.

She added: "I did nurse training and dealt with dead bodies all the time.

"I'm not squeamish and he's my brother."