Ex-Liverpool and Blackburn junior from Preston was furloughed and lost mum in run up to tragic death, inquest hears

The partner of Jordan Tucker-Blanc said he had found it difficult living alone at the height of the pandemic, especially after he was furloughed from his job as a joiner and then laid off.

"He just changed in character," Eleanor Morgan told a hearing in Preston today. "I think it was lockdown."

Jordan, 27, was found hanged at his home in Silverdale Drive, Ribbleton after friends raised concerns he had not been active on on-line gaming for several hours.

Eleanor said: "He had lost his mum, but I thought he was doing OK. But then he became furloughed and was in the house on his own for the first time.

"He wasn't getting up for work, or socialising with his mates. He didn't have any interactions and just didn't seem himself.

"When he became isolated in the house on his own it became really hard (for him)."

Jordan had been having counselling sessions and according to family members he seemed to be making progress. But then he deteriorated and was found dead in his bedroom late at night.

A post mortem showed death was due to hanging. But relatives at the inquest questioned why toxicology tests had not been carried out and why Jordan's mobile phone had not been checked in case he had left a suicide note.

The former Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers junior player had played semi-professional football for Kendal Town and was later captain of Longridge Town under manager Lee Ashcroft before deciding to hang up his boots prematurely due to work commitments as a joiner.

At the inquest relatives and friends talked of a young man who was "very, very outgoing."

"He was always smiling. He loved his family and he would help anyone.

"He loved football and, even though he played for Liverpool, Manchester United was still his team."

Assistant Coroner Sara Sutherland told the hearing there had been no evidence that Jordan had been drinking, or taking drugs, or medication before his death.

"Jordan was an incredibly talented individual," she said. "He was a semi-professional footballer and also a talented joiner. He was talented with his feet and his hands.

"He had touched many lives and that is something not many can be said to have done. It occurs to me that he is greatly missed."

Speaking after the inquest, Jordan's father Vincent Blanc told the Post: "There are still some questions that need answering, but I suppose we will never know.

"No toxicology test was carried out and his phone wasn't looked at to see if he had left a message."