A DEVOTED father died just days before his partner found out she was expecting their baby.

Terri Griffiths discovered she was pregnant just five days after finding 26-yearold Kevin Cook dead at the home they shared in Horwich.

A inquest heard Kevin had been upset after being refused access to his young son by his former partner.

He previously self-harmed but always when someone was around, said 25-year-old Miss Griffiths.

Kevin, who was helping to bring up Miss Griffiths’ two children at their home in St Brides Close, was unaware she was expecting his baby.

“It would have made him so happy,” Miss Griffiths said following the inquest.

The court heard Kevin had struggled with a binge drinking problem and had been upset when he was unable to see his son, but this situation was expected to be resolved by the courts.

His father, Robert Cook, aged 44, who lives in Hawthorne Avenue, Radcliffe, said Kevin was much happier since meeting Miss Griffiths.

Miss Griffiths, who is currently living with her mother in Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, said she and Kevin had been “inseparable”

since their relationship started in May although they had known each other for some time as friends.

They were planning a future together.

“The only problem he had was not being able to see his son,” said Miss Griffiths.

She said Kevin had once deliberately cut his leg when he was distressed because he could not speak to his son.

On Saturday, September 1, the family had been watching television and then went to bed.

Kevin was unresponsive the next morning and had died.

The court heard he had sent a text message to his father during the night asking him to ring him.

Mr Cook received the message too late to contact his son.

Kevin had been prescribed anti-depressants and was thought to have a personality disorder. A post mortem examination carried out by Dr Patrick Waugh revealed Kevin had died as a result of a combined codeine and alcohol toxicity.

Deputy coroner Alan Walsh recorded a verdict that Kevin died as a result of “misadventure”, saying: “He was a man who did not know he was to become a father and that saddens me a great deal.

“I believe he would not have known how many tablets would cause his death and would not have known the danger of tablets and alcohol combined.

There is no evidence he intended to take his own life.”

Speaking after the inquest, Kevin’s mother, 43-year-old Linda Mulligan, said Kevin was her eldest child — he had three sisters and two brothers — and would be very sadly missed.

She added the family would support Miss Griffiths.