A YOUNG man struggling with drug addiction hanged himself

Sylvester Guerreiro’s body was found on scaffolding outside a house in Norfolk Terrace, Brighton, by a passerby on August 28, an inquest heard.

Jackson Neil was walking past Norfolk Terrace at about 3.15am and was told by a man on a pushbike that someone on the scaffolding was “in trouble”.

The cyclist then disappeared and Mr Neil found Mr Guerreiro’s body.

He immediately dialled 999.

An ambulance arrived at the scene by 3.20am but Mr Guerreiro was declared dead.

His girlfriend Annalisa Lammino did not attend the inquest, held at Brighton and Hove coroners Court at Woodvale, Brighton, but in a letter that was read out she said Mr Guerreiro, 32, had been using drugs that night and they had an argument.

The couple lived together in Western Road, Hove.

Just hours before his death they were trying to find somewhere to park their car, which they had just bought together, to avoid a fine.

Ms Lammino said they argued a second time and Mr Guerreiro jumped out of the car and ran off with just a backpack.

She spent the next three hours looking for him in the city and grew concerned because it was “the first night he didn’t come home”, the court heard.

His sister Candice Guerreiro told the inquest he had made several attempts at suicide.

It was reported Mr Guerreiro had been using opioids on and off for about 14 years and was described by his sister as a “functioning addict”.

He changed between jobs in hospitality and recruitment in London and Brighton.

He was working as a waiter just before he died.

Ms Guerreiro said the family were distracted by the fact that he had a volatile relationship with drugs, which overshadowed his silent battle with depression.

The only medical record of Mr Guerreiro’s battle with mental health was an appointment in 2017 in a London clinic, which he checked himself into for anxiety, the inquest heard.

He registered with the Brighton Health and Wellbeing Centre in August 2018 but never booked an appointment.

Ms Guerreiro told the court that had everyone realised there was a link between addiction and depression, they could have done something about it.

She said he was obviously trying to manage his depressive thoughts himself and clearly felt he could not reach out to anyone and ask for help.

Mr Guerreiro was described as “impulsive” and his sister said she did not believe he woke up that day knowing he was going to die.

Assistant East Sussex Coroner Catharine Palmer said she was satisfied there was nothing suspicious about the death of Mr Guerreiro.

She said the death was deliberate, the cause of death was hanging and concluded Mr Guerreiro took his own life.

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