A “DOTING” dad who killed his wife and two young daughters before killing himself had been taking an anti-smoking drug suspected of causing depression, anger and suicidal thoughts, an inquest heard.

Andrew Case, 33, who worked as a lorry driver at Doccombe in Salisbury, killed his wife of ten years Vicki, 31, by stabbing her repeatedly in the chest and neck at their home in Provost Street, Fordingbridge last July.

He then smothered their little girls, Phoebe, two, and 18-month-old Nereya before hanging himself with a washing line from the upstairs landing.

An inquest held in Southampton this morning heard that Mr Case had been desperate to give up smoking and had been prescribed the drug varenicline to help him stop.

Varenicline can cause dizziness and fatigue and could impair people’s ability to perform potentially hazardous tasks.

It is suspected of causing severe psychological side effects.

In December 2007, after reports of depression and suicidal thoughts among people prescribed varenicline, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a warning concerning possible increased risks, with further warnings issued in July and November 2008.

Similar warnings have been issued by regulatory authorities worldwide, and warnings have been added to the prescribing information and information for patients.

An article published in the British Medical Journal in October 2009 looked at the growing concerns that varenicline could be associated with an increased risk of suicide.

The article concluded that the need for further research is indicated.

DCI Chris Fitchet of Wiltshire Police told the inquest: “I understand the drug is quite powerful. His GP tells us it can have significant side effects such as anger and depression.”

The bodies of the family were found by Mrs Case’s mother Linda Haskell on July 26 last year when she went to the house after becoming worried when she couldn’t get hold of her daughter, who ran St Aldhelm’s Pre-School in Sandleheath.

Neighbours were alerted when the distraught grandmother ran out into the street screaming: “My babies are dead. They’re all dead.”

It later emerged that the couple had been struggling with financial prob¬ lems.

Mr Case, who was planning to compete in the New Forest Marathon in September to raise money for Salisbury District Hospital’s Stars Appeal, had filed an alternative to bankruptcy, known as an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), at Salisbury County Court in 2006.

The death of the family left an entire community shocked and trying to piece together what could drive a man described by neighbours as a “doting dad” in a “normal, happy” family to such desperate actions.

Shortly after the deaths a friend told a national newspaper that whatever had driven Mr Case to such act of such apparent desperation must have been “catastrophic”.

He said: “He loved Vicki and those kids like life itself. Whatever it was must have been catastrophic to him. He called Phoebe and Nereya his little angels.

“He was a gentle giant who treated Vicki like a princess.”

Verdict: Unlawful killing: Vicki, Phoebe and Nereya Case. Suicide: Andrew Case.