THE inquest on a Caerphilly soldier found dead has been adjourned until a later date.

Lance Bombardier Richard Jones, 23, was discovered at home in Larkhill, Wiltshire, on October 15 2012.

He had been experiencing hallucinations and paranoia since returning from a sailing trip to the Canary Islands with colleagues.

Wiltshire & Swindon Coroner's Court heard L/Bdr Jones may have feared a prohibited fitness supplement he had taken would end his career.

The "super fit" tug-of-war player used Hemo-Rage, which was removed from sale in the UK in 2011 and 2012, on a couple of occasions.

He asked a friend to dispose of his tub after discovering it was not permitted in the Army but later became paranoid his hair would be tested.

L/Bdr Jones also told wife Jodie Jones, who he married in 2011, he had been in a relationship with a man during their engagement.

Mrs Jones, who was unable to verify his claim, left her husband alone at home while visiting her parents in Wales to give the couple some "time apart".

Colleagues discovered L/Bdr Jones' body two days later, with a handwritten note stating "You deserve better" and a wedding photograph in his kitchen.

Ian Singleton, assistant coroner for Wiltshire & Swindon, adjourned the inquest to deliver his conclusions at a further hearing, expected to take place later this month.

L/Bdr Jones, of the 14th Regiment Royal Artillery, accused superiors of hacking his phone, trying to cut a sample of his hair for testing and suffered auditory hallucinations during the sailing trip.

On his flight back, he sent wife Jodie a text stating "I'm sorry. You deserve better" before confessing to an affair with a man when he returned home.

Mrs Jones later took her husband to Salisbury District Hospital concerned he was suffering from a psychiatric breakdown.

The couple left before seeing a doctor but visited their GP the following morning, on October 12. L/Bdr Jones also met former sergeant major Jamie Lavery to explain his behaviour.

"He said he had taken a training supplement called Hemo-Rage," Mr Lavery, who has since left the Army, said.

"He said he hadn't taken it for a few weeks. I can't understand why he did, he was super fit. He said he didn't feel right.

"I said 'When you go back to the doc take it with you so you can put these fears of compulsory drug testing to bed'.

"I think it might have been playing on his mind that what he had been taking might be illegal in the Army."

The inquest heard drug testing took place on an annual basis in the Army, though one unit could be tested two or three times.

A spokesman for Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said Nutrex Hemo-Rage was removed from sale in 2011 and 2012.

L/Bdr Jones' friend Bombardier Stephen Mitchell told the inquest: "We had a drugs awareness briefing and he found out we weren't allowed to use it in the Army so he gave it to me and I disposed of it."

L/Bdr Jones became increasingly paranoid in the early hours of October 13 and returned to Salisbury District Hospital with his wife.

The couple, who were experiencing fertility problems, left before being seen by a member of the psychiatric team. Mrs Jones went to visit family later that day.

"He asked me was I going to divorce him and was our relationship over and I said no, we just needed some time apart," Mrs Jones said.

"Richard was a 23-year-old man and not for one second did I think the outcome would be what it was."

Mr Lavery, who discovered L/Bdr Jones' body, broke down in tears as he described the soldier.

"He was fit, keen, he would do anything for anybody," he said. "He would have had a great career."