A depressed father-of-three who confessed plans to end his life to a doctor would still be alive had be not been refused psychiatric treatment the day before he was found dead, an inquest has heard.

Warren Moller, 46, of Tumbling Bay in Walton, was found dead in a barn on November 14 last year.

It was a day after he had tried to visit the Joseph Palmer Centre in West Molesey following a referral from the Glenlyn Medical Centre in East Molesey.

Woking Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday, November 10, that Mr Moller, who had suffered with depression for more than 20 years, had met with Dr Gavin McColl at the Glenlyn surgery on November 13.

The appointment came several days after he was arrested for assault when he doused his family home with petrol when the family’s pet dog urinated on the floor, the inquest heard.

Mr Moller’s wife Lorraine had said that no assault had taken place and that she had retracted her statement but the police decided to pursue charges on their own.

He had been released on bail with the conditions that he not see his wife or children, or return to the family home.

Dr McColl said at the inquest that Mr Moller had come to him with "active suicidal thoughts", expressing problems in his relationship with his wife, his living situation and a low mood that he had "struggled with his whole adult life".

Dr McColl told the court that having assessed Mr Moller, he deemed him to require "urgent" psychiatric care that day, and that Mr Moller was referred to the Joseph Palmer Centre in a telephone conversation during the appointment.

But staff at the centre had failed to prioritise seeing the patient after a mix-up at Glenlyn surgery meant his written referral was not passed on until around 4.30pm.

The duty practitioner at the Joseph Palmer Centre, Alice Childs, along with consultant psychiatrist Dr Deepa Deo, agreed to forgo a risk assessment, instead opting to see Mr Moller the next morning, despite the urgency warning, the court heard.

After ending a phone call with Miss Childs "abruptly", Mr Moller texted his wife saying "enough is enough" and switched his phone off.

Dr McColl struggled to hold back tears as assistant coroner Karen Henderson asked him if he thought Mr Moller would have been alive had he been seen that day, and whether the failure of that consultation contributed to his death.

The doctor replied: "I think so."

The three-day inquest with witnesses continues.

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