A gay former bank manager and his lover were found dead in each other's arms, an inquest has heard.

Heartbroken Kieron Nagle was believed to have taken a fatal overdose after partner John Murdoch collapsed and died.

They lay there for up to three weeks before they were found, sprawled in the living room of their home in Arundel Road, Peacehaven.

Their bodies were so badly decomposed it was almost impossible for medical experts and police to tell what had happened.

Murder squad detectives found blood splattered in two bedrooms and the bathroom.

But East Sussex coroner Alan Craze said: "The most likely scenario was that Mr Murdoch died of natural causes and Mr Nagle was unable to contemplate going on without his partner.

The coroner heard the couple had a violent relationship. Jane Carter, Mr Nagle's sister, said: "Kieron described himself as a battered wife."

Mr Murdoch, 52, manager at a bank branch in Kingston, Surrey, until his early retirement, was a heavy drinker, He had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and was regularly treated in hospital.

Mrs Carter told the coroner how Mr Nagle had once said they wanted to die in each other's arms.

They were found by police last September after they failed to turn up for a wedding.

PC Peter Harris said he kicked in the front door to find the bodies. He said: "They were very close to each other, lying touching each other. They were head to head and the smaller one had his arm around the larger one, underneath his body."

Mr Murdoch's brother James told the inquest: "They were meant for each other."

He added: "My brother was too strong a person to take his own life. He also loved his dogs and would have never left them.

"I believe my brother died of natural causes and Kieron died of a broken heart."

A pathologist concluded the cause of the deaths was unascertainable.

Mr Craze recorded an open verdict on Mr Nagle and a verdict of death by natural causes on Mr Murdoch.