An inquest has been held into the death of a 50-year-old man from Ipswich who was battling with depression and anxiety.

Carl Bloomfield, who was born a woman named Carol and underwent a sex change to become a man in 2008, was found dead at his home in Pearson Road on June 19.

The inquest, held at IP-City Centre in Ipswich yesterday, heard that Mr Bloomfield was referred to a psychosocial provider at mental health support group Turning Point in 2014 after a history of depression, anxiety, substance misuse and cardiac problems.

In a statement read out in the inquest, Mr Bloomfield was described by his father, Victor, as a “happy child” and “very much a tomboy”.

It continued: “We knew Carol was not happy in her own body and was aware that her life would be difficult. Carl never mentioned taking his own life. He sent me a Father’s Day card and appeared to be making plans for the future.”

Mr Bloomfield worked as a ward clerk for 25 years at Ipswich Hospital and was “extremely well liked and respected” by his colleagues.

The inquest heard that Mr Bloomfield had started working 12-hour shifts, which he found “very difficult”.

He had two months off work and when he returned he went back to doing eight-hour days and was “much happier”.

On June 11, the inquest was told that Mr Bloomfield had cancelled an appointment with his psychosocial provider, Jason Berry, and sent him an email stating he was having “negative thoughts”.

Mr Berry did not believe Mr Bloomfield was at “immediate risk” because he had never expressed thoughts of harming himself in the past, the inquest heard.

On the day of Mr Bloomfield’s death, he sent another “concerning” email to Mr Berry, thanking him for his help and saying goodbye.

The email was read by Mr Berry within 10 minutes of it being sent and he immediately notified his line manager and called 999.

Mr Bloomfield was found dead in his bedroom by emergency services.

In Mr Berry’s statement for the inquest, he said: “I could not see any other way of interpreting this email other than intended suicide.”

Suffolk Constabulary confirmed that there were no suspicious circumstances in respect to Mr Bloomfield’s death.

A post-mortem and toxicology examination found that Mr Bloomfield had a number of medical drugs in his blood at the time of his death.

Coroner Dr Peter Dean recorded the cause of death as suicide.

Dr Dean said: “From all of the evidence it does appear that although he had a supportive family, supportive workers trying to assist him, clearly Carl was still troubled by difficulties.”