A 34-year-old Melksham man found dead in his flat could have suffered a fatal asthma attack, an inquest in Trowbridge heard on Wednesday.

The body of Scott Hillman, 34, was discovered by police officers at his flat in Turner Court at about 10.30pm on September 14, after his worried mother called the emergency services when he didn’t turn up for the first game with his new football team.

Farmer Vanessa Amor, of Wingfield, near Trowbridge, told the inquest her son had grown up with anger problems and later developed schizophrenia, as well as severe asthma.

His marriage had broken down over his habitual use of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana.

His mental health problems meant he had spent time in Green Lane Hospital in Devizes since 2006. The inquest heard how Mr Hillman suffered badly from asthma after being diagnosed three years ago, needing two inhalers to treat the illness.

Mrs Amor said the condition worsened last summer. “He was really poorly. He couldn’t get his breath. I knew it was an infection,” she said.

Mrs Amor gave the inquest an example of the difficulties her son had suffered because of his asthma when she said that the week before his death she had nearly called an ambulance after finding him draped over the settee at her home coughing.

She had got up early in the morning to milk her cows when she found him suffering.

She recalled the joy he had felt after he was signed up as a player with Chippenham Sports and Social Club’s Sunday league team last year. Mrs Amor said he been so chuffed about being accepted on the team that she knew there was something wrong when he didn’t turn up for the match.

After calling local hospitals, police battered down Mr Hillman’s front door and found his body on the floor in the living room by an open window.

Coroner David Ridley recorded a verdict of death by natural causes after the court heard from consultant pathologist Dr Hugh White, from Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

Dr White said a post-mortem examination proved inconclusive, but said sudden death was possible from a major asthmatic attack or from quick deterioration in people who had what appeared to be moderate asthma.

He said people could quite literally drop dead, leaving little or no evidence for a pathologist to find.

PC James Robbins, who attended the scene, told the inquest there was no evidence of any third party involvement or illegal drugs in Mr Hillman’s flat.