A SHOPKEEPER who was depressed by huge debts hanged himself in a shed at the rear of a mosque where he prayed.

A week earlier, father-of-six Mujahid Hussain had tried to end his life by swallowing rat poison.

An inquest heard that in 2007 he had re-mortgaged his home and obtained a loan of £140,000 to buy an off-licence called Superstar in Rusholme.

But after a year, business slumped and Mr Hussain, 57, of Ashfield Road, Longsight, was unable to pay the rent and became depressed.

In January last year he rang police after taking poison and was kept in hospital overnight.

Burden

Eldest son Mohammed Amar, who helped to run the shop, said in a statement, that his father was naive when it came to business and finance.

“He told me he had made a mess of the business and the burden of the shop and its problems caused him a lot stress,” he said.

Three days after going missing last January, Mr Hussain was found dead in a shed at the back of Manchester Central Mosque in Rusholme.

Recording a verdict that he took his own life, Manchester’s Deputy Coroner Graham Jackson said he believed taking the poison and telling the police had been a cry for help, but what happened in the shed was ‘a deliberate step to end his life’.

He added: “This was a tragic event and it’s clear he was extremely hard working, but the financial situation was the catalyst which led to him taking his life.”