Liverpool: Campaigner ‘went downhill’ after dog’s death – inquest

In an emotional pen portrait, Mr Kay’s cousin, Amos Waldman, told how Mr Kay had attempted suicide twice in recent decades.

The first time, shortly after his mother’s funeral, he was found with a significant amount of drugs in an Amsterdam hotel room.

The second attempt came while visiting family in Israel, when he was hospitalized after injuring himself with razors.

Sitting next to the large photo of his cousin, an emotional Mr Waldman said: “I know I, and so many others, are deeply shocked and devastated by Dan’s passing. The shock reverberated through the city and beyond.

“Dan was a great person, one of the best, and left a gaping hole in our lives.”

A huge Liverpool FC fan, Mr Kay had largely grown up with his grandparents in Wallasey.

He had worked with Hillsborough families and survivors and worked with the family of the late campaigner Anne Williams on a book about her life, which then became an award-winning TV drama that Mr Kay worked on.