An estranged husband bludgeoned his wife to death with a hammer at their Somerset home before killing himself, an inquest has heard.

Kevin Baker, 35, attacked wife Tracey, 41, with the weapon at their home in Chard, Somerset after becoming convinced she had begun a new relationship.

Somerset Coroner's Court heard that, after killing the mother of three on July 4 last year, Mr Baker took his own life with a ligature.

The court heard that Mrs Baker's father, Peter Amey, discovered the bodies of his daughter and son-in-law in an upstairs bedroom of the family home the following morning and contacted the police.

He had let himself into the modern mid-terrace property after being alerted by family members who had failed to raise either Mr or Mrs Baker.

A blood-stained hammer and kitchen knife were also found in the bedroom - although the court heard the knife had not been used.

Post mortem examinations found Mrs Baker, a hairdresser, had suffered multiple blunt force head injuries while her husband, a groundworker, died from strangulation.

Somerset Coroner Tony Williams explained that over Christmas 2014 Mrs Baker's parents had learnt of problems in her marriage and by the following March she had asked Mr Baker to leave the home.

"Only a couple of days later Kevin took an overdose. He subsequently went on to take a further overdose," he said.

There was also another incident of self-harm in front of his family and he was also reported missing to the police on one occasion, the court heard.

"Kevin also started to see his GP and was involved with mental health services and proscribed medication," Mr Williams said.

"It is clear that the breakdown in the relationship was having an effect upon him."

Addressing, Mr Baker's mother Barbara, Mr Williams said: "You noticed that he appeared to becoming obsessed, constantly looking at an old phone that used to belong to Tracey and spending hours on his phone looking things up.

"What is clear from the statements is that there were never any signs of violence or aggression between Tracey and Kevin.

"It was never a concern for either family that Kevin would do any injury to Tracey."

Mr Williams said a neighbour of the couple had been "given the impression that Kevin had started to get better but didn't want her to be with anyone else.

"Liam Riste, a relative of Mr Baker, also mentions that he spoke to Kevin and Kevin was worried that Tracey would get into another relationship."

On the day of their deaths, Mrs Baker had spent the afternoon with Christopher Wood, an old school friend who she had recently contacted on Facebook.

Mrs Baker returned home alone and later invited Mr Baker to the house. Their children were staying with Mr Baker's parents.

The court heard the last known telephone contact with either Mr or Mrs Baker was 5.45pm.

Mr Williams recorded conclusions that Mr Baker had unlawfully killed his wife before taking his own life.

"I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Kevin unlawfully killed Tracey and that her cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries that were caused to her head by that hammer," he said.

"There is no evidence to suggest that anyone else was present or involved in Kevin's death."