THE widow of prominent Kent businessman Peter Quaife has spoken about her husband's lifelong struggle against depression. Sally Quaife said he had a Jekyll and Hyde personality of which few of his business acquaintances were aware.

Mr Quaife committed suicide in March after years of chronic depression. Speaking after the inquest into her husband's death, held in Hastings, Mrs Quaife said: "He swung between this fantastic man and this aggressive man at home. Friends did not see it. They only saw the charismatic side of his personality."

The 55-year-old financial advisor and Kent Messenger Group columnist separated from his wife two years ago when she said she lost patience with his infidelity. He was found dead on Wednesday, March 27, at the family caravan in Hastings where he had been living since the couple's separation.

Mrs Quaife said: "Whenever I was busy he was having an affair. He has even left one of them money in his will. That's why we separated. I refused to put up with any more of his affairs.

"But I still love him. The highs were wonderful. We did have some wonderful times together."

According to Mrs Quaife, 53, of Loose Road, Maidstone, her husband had suffered from depression since he was a teenager but his mental state had recently declined.

The inquest heard that on the night before his death, Mr Quaife had been to the ballet with a friend, Isobel Ackary, and had stayed overnight at her home. He left for work the following morning but later telephoned Ms Ackary.

She told the hearing he sounded as if he had been drinking and seemed upset because a member of staff had resigned. In a second call, about an hour, he left a message to say he was all right. Ms Ackary later went to Mr Quaife's caravan where she discovered his body.

The inquest was told Mr Quaife had taken a lethal cocktail of tranquilizers and beta-blockers washed down with vodka. A post mortem examination revealed he had 70 times the normal dose of the drugs in his blood stream, the equivalent of 140 tablets. The effect of this would have been exacerbated by the alcohol.

The police officer who attended the scene found several suicide notes in the caravan.

Mr Quaife founded the Maidstone Mortgage Centre 28 years ago and was said to be a well-liked and well-respected member of Kent's financial community. His widow paid tribute to his business acumen.

She said: "He was a very intelligent man. He always had the business sorted. He was very good at his job and was very much a social man and very charismatic."

Mr Quaife, a past lodge master for the Priory Lodge of the Freemasons in London, was the father of two sons - Grant, 29, and Gerard, who died suddenly in 1996 aged 24.

Verdict: suicide.