A retired electrician committed suicide by wrapping wire around his wrists and electrocuting himself.

Ronald Sims, 72, of Winchester Close, was found dead at the bottom of his stairs with bare electrical cable tied around his wrists on January 23, Oxford Coroners Court heard on June 25.

Mr Sims had been suffering from depression and previously attempted to take his own life with an overdose of tablets and bleach after the death of his wife, the court heard.

The wires had been plugged into a connecting block, which was connected to the mains.

Mr Sims's son Mark, of Balmoral Way, Kings Sutton, visited his father, who had a history of depression, after getting a call from his brother, Richard, in London.

Richard had been concerned their father was not answering his telephone.

Christopher Smithson, of Beaulieu Close, Banbury, was walking his dogs on that date when he saw Mark Sims outside his father's house, saying "my dad's dead".

In a statement read in court, Mr Smithson said: "I asked him a few questions and we went into the house.

"I saw an elderly male lying on the ground. I phoned for the police and an ambulance."

Mr Smithson saw 10 inches of bare wire wrapped tightly around Mr Sims's wrists.

Mark Sims told the court: "He had shown signs of depression for some years."

Recording a verdict that Mr Sims committed suicide, Oxford Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said: "He was determined to take his own life, and he put that into effect at some point between speaking to one of his sons in the morning and the arrival of his other son later on."