A depressed gambler who lost his family's savings poured petrol over himself before igniting the fumes with a cigarette lighter, an inquest was told.

Jignes Shah's wife told how the day before her husband had tried to drive his car into hers as she came home from work, only stopping when a neighbour spotted him.

She said he had also demanded money and threatened her by saying: "You don't know what I can do."

In a statement read out at the Bradford inquest today she said injunctions had been taken out against him to stay away from her after they separated. She also said their marriage had not been able to survive the tragic death some years earlier of their premature IVF twin girls.

She also described how her husband, an unemployed financial advisor, had suffered mood swings going "from nice to crabby" since being diagnosed diabetic.

He had spent the family's entire savings when he became obsessed with gambling, visiting casinos as soon as they opened in an afternoon and not leaving until the closed at 5am.

In May, 2007, he had also tried to take his own life by drinking bleach, the inquest heard.

Mr Shah, who had started divorce proceedings, moved into a rented house in Scholemoor Road. It was there that firefighters were called after a neighbour heard screams and saw smoke in January this year.

Rescuers had to force their way into the property because both doors were locked and Mr Shah, 39, was found behind the kitchen door.

A half-full petrol can and the remains of a lighter were also found nearby.

The inquest heard how evidence gathered by fire investigators showed Mr Shah had doused himself in petrol before either collapsing or sitting on a sofa in the kitchen, then getting up and moving around the room.

He was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary with burns to 90 per cent of his body. He was later transferred to Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, where he died as a result of his severe injuries.

Coroner Roger Whittaker said: "He could have had no intention other than to end his own life and, sadly, he succeeded."

The verdict was that he took his own life.