A 47-year-old man killed himself by jumping out of his window on the 18th floor of a tower block, a coroner’s court heard.

The body of Mark Barnes, 47, was found on some industrial stairs beneath his flat in Neville Gill Close, Wandsworth, just behind the Southside Shopping Centre on March 1.

Westminster Coroner’s Court heard on Friday that he was estranged from his family and had been admitted to hospital before under the mental health act after taking an overdose.

He suffered from depression for 12 years and was taking medication to deal with it, but had often contemplated killing himself.

On the day he died witness Leonard James was carrying out building work at 7.45am in nearby Garratt Lane.

He said he heard a loud thud and saw a white man wearing no shoes lying dismembered on the stairs.

In a statement read out during the inquest Mr James said: "It was so loud. I thought I saw a mannequin at first, I saw a leg over the banister. It shocked me, it still affects me now."

Mr James called an ambulance but paramedics found Mr Barnes dead at the scene.

Police investigating the flat discovered a window was pushed wide open, with the child safety locks broken. A chair was also pulled up under the window and fingerprints were spotted on the window sill.

A post-mortem examination report found he died of multiple injuries.

Coroner Bernard Richmond QC recorded a verdict of suicide, while the balance of Mr Barnes’ mind was disturbed.

He said: "The evidence points to a very troubled man, aged 47 who had many years of mental health difficulties.

"When he was found by Leonard James he had fallen from his flat, which was many floors up a tower block where he lived on the 18th floor.

"It was plain he had gone to some efforts to get up to the window and out of the window."