A FORMER boxer took his own life in a move described by his daughter as tragic but courageous.

Angela Groombridge, 36, says the family lost their hero and the community lost an inspirational figure when 58-year-old John 'Ginger' Rice hanged himself at his home in Kent in March.

Mrs Groombridge was speaking after an inquest heard Mr Rice, a celebrated amateur boxer and long-time member of Canterbury Boxing Club, had suffered from anxiety and sleep deprivation from concerns centred around his second wife, Elizabeth.

Coroner Rebecca Cobb returned a verdict of suicide by hanging.

Mrs Rice had left her husband on Christmas Eve, last year, but in a telephone conversation just hours before his suicide, the two had planned to meet later that day.

She told the inquest: "I said to him he had to stop sitting around watching TV and start living life.

"He said he would commit suicide and I replied, 'go on then'. I didn't believe he was serious."

Mr Rice, a grandfather of nine, was found by a neighbour hanging from a length of webbing in his garage at The Grove, Greenhill, less than three hours after the telephone call. He was declared dead at the scene.

The day before, Mr Rice had turned up at the Herne Bay home of his sister Linda Rattray.

She told the inquest: "I wouldn't say he was distressed but we did talk about his marriage troubles and the concerns he had over Elizabeth not paying her share of the mortgage."

Mrs Groombridge, his daughter, told the coroner that despite his wife's sudden departure, Mr Rice had joined the family, including his first wife Sandy, for a happy Christmas period and had also made plans to go abroad to Prague with work colleagues later this year.

After the hearing, she said: "What he did was so unexpected. He was not suicidal but was really searching himself about why Elizabeth had left him.

"I think when she told him to take his life, he took it literally. He was a very courageous man and would not let anything defeat him. In a way, this was courage in death, as well as in life."