A SENIOR aircraft technician in the RAF took his own life after he returned to his barracks following three weeks annual leave, a court heard.

Graeme Milligan, 27, spent his leave back home in Scotland before he returned to RAF Benson on Sunday, April 3.

Before his leave, Mr Milligan had returned from a tour of Afghanistan which ended in March.

Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter said that Mr Milligan's body was found in the evening of April 5 in his room at Benson.

Colleagues described him as a "nice, reliable guy who kept himself to himself."

Mr Salter said that Mr Milligan had failed to attend work on Monday, April 4, and told his mother on the phone that he had not been feeling well.

Giving evidence in court, Squadron leader Alastair Balmer, said: "He was a reliable person and it would have been thought that he was away doing something.

"He would be making use of his time, he was not any cause for concern at all."

In the evening of Tuesday, April 5, his body was found in his room in Gray Block by a colleague.

Dr Nick Hunt, a consultant pathologist, said that there were no drugs or alcohol found in Mr Milligan's blood stream.

Mr Salter added: "Graeme's body was found at RAF Benson on April 5.

"Graeme took his own life.

"This is a sad case and death of a young man."