A 19-YEAR-old who assaulted his dad, before going missing, took his own life, an inquest heard.

Andrew Nicholls was found dead by police officers on July 12 in his dad's car at an orchard in Ryeford, near his home in The Lea, near Ross-on-Wye.

There was a piece of paper on the windscreen which said, 'Warning, carbon monoxide in the car' and a post mortem report revealed he died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The inquest at Herefordshire Coroner's Court heard Mr Nicholls had gone missing on July 10 and a police search with a helicopter and police dogs had followed.

His father, Richard Nicholls, told the inquest he had been dozing on the sofa at his home, where he lived with his son, when a heavy object hit him around the head on the evening of July 10.

Mr Nicholls said: "My initial reaction was it was a burglar."

He then realised his son had hit him around the head with a bottle. He asked his son to call an ambulance, which he did.

Mr Nicholls senior went to hospital and received 14 stitches in two different wounds.

He did not return home until the following day, when he realised his car was missing.

Mr Nicholls senior said his son had bought a charcoal burner in February, which showed on his bank account statements. The burner was used by his son to assist his suicide. He said: "He [Andrew] had obviously been planning this for some time."

He said his son was unemployed and had been sacked from Morrisons in Ross in April.

After Mr Nicholls died his father discovered his son had spent a lot of money on online gambling and was in thousands of pounds worth of debt.

He said his son had not seemed depressed and was planning on going on holiday in a few months, but he said he did believe his son had taken his own life.

Police had found a note in Mr Nicholls' bedroom and an 11-page document with reference to being unhappy and suicide.

When Mr Nicholls was found there was a cut to his left wrist, which has been stitched up but not thought to have been done by a professional.

Coroner Roland Wooderson said the assault was "clearly out of character" for Mr Nicholls and must have been an "unpleasant surprise" for his father.

Mr Wooderson concluded that Mr Nicholls took his own life.