Police constable David Rathband was found hanging at his home after an affair with a survivor of the 7/7 bombing effectively ended his marriage, an inquest has heard.
The 44-year-old, who was blinded by gunman Raoul Moat, won national praise for the way he tackled his new disability, creating the Blue Lamp Foundation to help emergency workers injured at work.
After attending the trial of two of Moat’s accomplices in spring 2011, he lost motivation and had failed to adjust to losing his sight, his widow Kath told the inquest at Newcastle Moot Hall on Monday.
In February 2012, he was found hanging at the three-storey townhouse in Blyth, Northumberland, he moved into after a domestic incident with his wife.
Mrs Rathband, mother of 21-year-old Ash and Mia, 15, said her husband had several affairs with women, but his last with Lisa French, a survivor of the London bombing, ended their marriage. Both women gave evidence at the hearing, which was also attended by his two sisters and his father Keith.
Mrs Rathband found out that the friendship, which started on Twitter, had become more serious just days before her husband flew to Australia to visit his twin, Darren.
Mrs Rathband told the inquest he could not understand why she would not take him back, and would call her up to 100 times a day. It became so bad she enlisted the support of the Domestic Violence Unit, she told the inquest.
Mrs Rathband said one abusive message she received when he was in Australia read: “I will swing before you receive a penny.”
Ms French told the hearing Mr Rathband had expressed suicidal thoughts to his wife, but that he did not want to go through with it.
Moat shot himself in Rothbury, Northumberland, during a stand-off with police at the end of a week-long manhunt.
The inquest continues.