A MOTHER has told how she pleaded with her son not to kill himself shortly before he smashed into a stone archway in a copycat suicide.

Andrew Naydin Fennell suffered multiple injuries after crashing his Nissan Terrano 4X4 into the Carrmire Gate at Castle Howard, on November 1, 2005.

The IT manager at York-based Portakabin had telephoned his mother from his vehicle before, saying 'I can't go on any more'.

His death was similar to that of University of York student Lawrence Koppert, 23, who had deliberately driven into the same archway in August, 2005, the day he was due at York Crown Court on a wounding charge which he denied.

Mr Fennell, 43, of Ox Close, Stamford Bridge, had never been treated for depression, but his mother, Heather Grace Partington, of Leavening, near Malton, said he had previously attempted suicide.

She told an inquest at Scarborough County Court yesterday that her son had phoned her on Tuesday, November 1, at 12.30pm, while she was driving.

"He said 'I am going to do what you have always feared I would do. I am going to do the same thing as Nicola'."

The inquest heard that his sister, Nicola, had died in 1988.

Asked if she had committed suicide, Mrs Partington said: "It was an open verdict, but I knew she had."

She asked her son where he was.

"He said 'I am on the road between Stamford Bridge and Malton', so I begged and pleaded, and said 'Please don't do it'.

"He said 'I can't go on any more'."

She said he had been unhappy with his marriage, but had never really discussed it.

"I said 'Please can't I help you? Can't I get you an ambulance?'

"He said 'No, it is too late Mum... I took pills on Sunday night, and I had hoped I wouldn't wake up'.

"He said 'I am going to make sure it happens this time. I don't want any help'.

"I said 'Where can I find you later?' I didn't want him to be found in his car, dead.

"He said 'You will be able to see me from the road'. He said he was very sorry. He said he didn't want to hurt anyone."

She added: "I thought all I could do was alert an ambulance, who could find him before anything happened."

Mr Fennell's wife, Joanne, said she had assumed he was at work that Sunday night.

He returned on Monday morning, showered, changed and went back out.

That afternoon, he was in bed when she came home, saying he felt ill.

She denied any marital problems, saying: "We had the usual ups and downs. I was never aware of any difficulties."

Coroner Michael Oakley asked North Yorkshire Traffic Constable Paul Davenport: "Is this not a copycat situation of that sad case of suicide?"

TC Davenport said: "This collision occurred when the Nissan failed to negotiate the archway, and collided at no less than 48mph.

"The fact is he has driven into it, with no evidence of any braking or trying to steer away.

"His foot was on the accelerator. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

"It is likely that was the case."

Mr Oakley recorded a verdict of suicide.

Updated: 09:38 Tuesday, April 25, 2006