A DEPRESSED Minehead taxi driver killed himself after being tormented by a burglary in which the thief discovered he had an artificial leg. Richard Griffiths, aged 60, of Hayfield Road, Alcombe, was found hanging from a loft hatch by police officers called to his home by his son, Keith. Keith Griffiths, also a local taxi driver, told an inquest in Minehead on Thursday that his father had first become depressed after losing his leg in an horrific accident during his late teens. He said his grandfather had been rotivating weeds when the machine went over his father's leg causing such horrific injuries that the limb had to be amputated. The inquest was told the injury was one Mr Griffiths liked to keep to himself and not many people were aware he had an artificial leg. Keith Griffiths said his father's depression had been made worse when he suffered at the hands of a "well-known Minehead thief" who he believed had been treated leniently by the courts and who he knew had seen his artificial leg. "They'd gone through his house and it hit him badly - not just the fact they'd gone in his house but that he [the thief] had only got community service. That really got him down," Keith Griffiths said. He said the thief took an estimated £500 in ten pence pieces which had been collected in a large whisky jar, but he stole nothing else. In a written statement, Mr Griffiths' doctor Susan Neville confirmed the burglary had affected him so badly that he been unable to keep the house tidy after the break-in. She said she knew he worked long hours seven days a week and had not had a holiday in eight years. She said she had prescribed anti-depressants but "unfortunately his problems became overwhelming and regrettably he took his own life". Keith Griffiths said that, less than a week before his father's death on February 12, Mr Griffiths had threatened to kill himself and was "still low" in the days leading up to the incident. He said he had last seen his father the night before his body was found but had simply thought he had overslept when customers started calling complaining that they had not been picked up. Expecting to find him asleep in bed, the inquest was told, Keith Griffiths went to his father's house, but instead found a letter telling him not to enter but to call the police. When the police arrived, they searched the house and found Mr Griffiths hanging from a single length of blue nylon rope. A kitchen stool was immediately in front of him. Police officers also found a handwritten note in which Mr Griffiths told his family: "Sorry. I love you all. I don't want anyone to cry for me. I feel more relaxed now than have done for years and years." West Somerset coroner Michael Rose said he was convinced the fact the thief had seen his artificial leg during the burglary had added to Mr Griffiths' depression. He said of the burglary: "In money terms, it was not disastrous but it had been taken by a well-known thief in Minehead. "It leaves a very nasty taste and it can lead to depression, the thought that someone has invaded your privacy. "It was a very personal matter to Mr Griffiths and it increased his depression." He said he believed Mr Griffiths had taken his own life when the balance of his mind had been disturbed and gave the medical cause of death as hanging. "Clearly the deceased went to his own house after his son had gone to work and took the action that he did," Mr Rose said.