A MAN who jumped from the ninth floor of Slough's Queensmere shopping centre car park on Christmas Eve had cut himself off from friends and family, an inquest heard today.

CCTV cameras revealed how 45-year-old Jose Bernardo, of Crown Meadow, Brands Hill, Colnbrook had come to the shopping centre almost an hour before his death, initially going to the top of the car park before going back down again and sitting on a bench.

Eventually he returned to the top again and jumped.

Sales assistant James Evans had made a statement read out at the inquest, in which he described going out for a cigarette at about 4.15pm and becoming aware someone had fallen to the ground.

He said: "I could see he was breathing because his chest was rising. I was telling him everything was going to be okay because I wanted him to know someone was there with him."

Meanwhile his colleague Kalvin Brown had called the emergency services, who worked until 5pm but were unable to save his life.

A post mortem revealed he had had a fractured skull. There was no alcohol in his system or any drugs.

Mr Bernardo's brother Juan told assistant coroner Emma Jones that Jose had been in bad shape since his wife left him.

He said they had worked together but his brother had left the job three or four weeks before his death and he had lost contact with him.

Coroner Emma Jones concluded Mr Bernardo had deliberately taken his own life