A TAUNTON man who lived on the streets was given a £4,500 payout for benefits which he gave away in weeks - before he took his own life.

Wesley Keirle, 43, was given the Department of Works and Pensions payout last December, but he loaned it to other homeless people who used it to buy drugs - and never got a penny back.

Mr Keirle, a drug addict, only had a new pair of trainers to show for the money he had been entitled to, an inquest in Taunton heard yesterday (Wednesday).

On a freezing night in January 26, he was forced to sleep outdoors, which left him in a foul mood, the coroner was told.

Friend Robert Steele said the PIP payment had been "loaned to fellow street people to buy drugs leaving Wes penniless" within a few weeks of getting the money.

He said:"When Wes was in a good mood he was the nicest person you could wish to meet."

But after his money was gone he "seemed like a broken man with no desire to live".

A Great Western train driver had just left Taunton Station when he "felt a bump" and thought he had struck a large bird or an animal on the railway line.

But the train's camera showed Mr Keirle "deliberately placing himself in front of a train with the intention of ending his life", said senior Somerset coroner Tony Williams.

READ MORE: Tributues to Wesley Keirle following his death.

*Anyone struggling to cope can call Samaritans free of charge on 116 123 (UK and Ireland), email jo@samaritans.org or visit the Samaritans website.