Lee Collins, a former Shrewsbury and Wolves youth footballer, committed suicide after dealing with drinking and mental health concerns, an inquest heard.
Mr Collins’ corpse was discovered at the Lanes Hotel in West Coker, near Yeovil, after he failed to show up for training on March 31.
Mr Collins, of Newport, Gwent, had difficulties with low mood and alcohol addiction in the years leading up to his death, according to an inquest in Taunton.
Mr Collins grew up in Telford and was the captain of Yeovil Town. He began his career as a member of Wolves’ youth in 2006, although he did not make his first team debut, instead moving on loan to Hereford and Port Vale.
He also played eight games on loan for Shrewsbury Town in 2012.
Tony Williams, the senior coroner for Somerset, concluded the inquest on Wednesday afternoon that the death was the result of suicide.
Mr Collins’ partner Rachel Gibbon described him as a “very complex character” in a long statement delivered during the inquest.
“There was a Lee Collins that the world saw and a Lee that only those closest to him saw,” said Ms Gibbon.
“On the surface, Lee appeared to be confident, calm, and composed. He had time for everyone and anything, and even if he didn’t have much time, he made it.”
Ms Gibbon described her spouse as a “class clown” with a “infectious personality” who made others laugh.
“The Lee that no-one else saw was a completely different person,” she stated.
“He was insecure, anxious, and disoriented.” Lee possessed an addictive nature. Whatever he was doing, he was giving it his all.”
Throughout their relationship, Mr Collins had a “intermittent addiction” to gambling, she said the inquiry, but his “main addiction” was drinking.
“Lee had a drinking problem. “No one knew the extent of his drinking,” Ms Gibbon explained.
“Lee drinking was never an issue and was recreational until he started to use it as a crutch for his mental health.”
According to the inquiry, Mr Collins was heartbroken by the loss of his dog and father in 2017.
He used to drink on weekends, but Ms Gibbons claimed he started drinking every night, consuming six bottles of strong cider and two bottles of wine.
She told the hearing that Mr Collins, who had also started drinking spirits, would be missing for “days at a time on drinking benders.”
Mr Collins entered treatment in November 2018 and did not consume alcohol for six months before resuming during a vacation.
Ms Gibbon would set her alarm early before his death to remove empty bottles of alcohol from their home to keep their children from seeing them.
“I also found drugs on Lee and in our home,” she said.
“Toward the end of Lee’s life, we were having major issues as a couple due to addictions.”
“I explained to Lee that something had to change but nothing was.”
Following her grandfather’s death in late 2020, Ms Gibbon and her children relocated to live with her mother and sister.
Mr Collins saw this as her abandoning him, despite her protestations that this was not the case.
“This, I truly believe, was the final factor for Lee,” Ms Gibbon testified during the inquiry.
“I chatted with Lee several times about his mental health and addictions. I implored him to call for assistance.”
She nonetheless stated: “His actions are the last thing I ever thought he would do.”
Ms Gibbon concluded her statement by describing Mr Collins as a “gentle giant” and “the kindest, most generous man”.
“He made me smile every single day and was genuinely the best dad that I could ever wish for my children,” she said.
“Lee was also a selfish person. I genuinely blame his addiction for this. Nothing would come before alcohol.
“If there was a choice between drinking and doing anything else, drinking would have won.
“I genuinely think that it was his illness that made him this way but most importantly, it didn’t make me or anyone love him less.”
The inquest heard Mr Collins’ body was found by Terry Skiverton, assistant manager at Yeovil Town, at about 4.50pm on March 31.
Emergency services attended the hotel, where a number of footballers for the club were staying, and Mr Collins was pronounced dead at 5.01pm.
A post-mortem examination found Mr Collins died from hanging. He had alcohol and cocaine in his blood at the time.
Statements from Mr Collins’ doctors told how he had sought help for low mood and alcoholism in the years before his death.
A month before he died, he told one GP that he was “struggling to cope with the breakdown of his relationship”, the inquest heard.
Friend Paul Broadhead said Mr Collins had “struggled with his mental health periodically for a few years” but started “drinking more heavily” in summer 2020.
Mr Broadhead said the Covid-19 lockdown imposed in Wales that October “hit Lee quite hard” and he began missing football training sessions.
“Had he been in his right mind and able to meet friends, I genuinely don’t believe we would be in this situation now,” Mr Broadhead said.
Mr Collins began his career at Wolves and also had spells with Hereford, Port Vale, Barnsley, Shrewsbury, Northampton, Mansfield and Forest Green.
He moved to Vanarama National League club Yeovil Town from Forest Green in 2019 and made 35 league appearances for the Somerset club.
His final game for the club was at Stockport on February 6.
