A MAN who pushed tampons up his nose in an attempt to cure his snoring died when he suffocated in his sleep, an inquest at Guildford, Surrey, was told yesterday.

Mr Mark Gleeson, 26, of Headley Down, Hampshire, had been told by doctors his snoring was incurable and, with girlfriend Tracey Lambert, decided to solve the problem by using the tampons.

Miss Lambert told the inquest that on the evening before he died Mr Gleeson drank some wine and took a few sleeping tablets. They talked about his snoring and decided to use the tampons to stop him waking the household.

``It just happened,'' she said. ``The conversation just came up about the snoring and we both agreed that was what he would do.''

She left him asleep on a sofa at her home in Haslemere, Surrey, and found him dead next morning with the tampons up his nose.

Read more:

Exclusive | Does dementia disrupt sleep - or does insomnia cause dementia? Study aims to find out

Mr Gleeson's mother Vera, of Mill Chase Road, Bordon, Hampshire, who explained that her son's snoring was due to sinus problems following a road accident, said: ``We used to treat it as a joke at home. The day before he died he said he had gone to the doctor about his snoring and told me `there's not a lot they can do about it'.''

Pathologist Dr Peter Jackson said Mr Gleeson's death, on January 23, was caused by asphyxiation due in part to the tampons, and said the sleeping tablets would also have added to his breathing difficulties.

Coroner Michael Burgess recorded a verdict of accidental death.