Fashion label boss died after testosterone injections 'made him paranoid'
A successful fashion label owner who died after injecting testosterone to give himself more energy suffered from extreme paranoia, an inquest has heard. Sergio Andreou first carried out the treatment privately at home after undergoing IVF therapy with wife Victoria, a coroner was told.
The 37-year old continued injecting on a regular basis after the fertility treatment proved successful and left him "feeling better". However, Winchester Coroner's Court heard that the more he self-mediated, the more he grew suspicious of those around him.
After telling his wife - from whom he had separated - in a text message that he felt like he was "being trapped" and "didn't know what to do", a day later Mr Andreou was found hanged at his £1 million Hampshire home. The pair created clothing line Lady Vintage in 2011 and as a result of its success purchased 13 properties.
Describing him in court, Mrs Andreou said: "[Sergio] had the ability to go into a room and talk to anyone. He was extremely creative and extremely charismatic. He was loved by a lot of people. He was the ideas man and the businessman."
The coroner was told that Mr Andreou began feeling paranoid by the end of 2018, with his wife explaining he would "read things into situations". "I would be in the exact same room with the exact same people and he thought that they had ulterior motives," she said. "It would happen at work as well. He would think that people weren't working hard enough or didn't have the best interest of the company there."
'I lost my son to suicide and my hubby has months to live - every day counts'
A statement on behalf of Mr Andreou's wife, Victoria and their business, Lady Vintage (Lady V London / Facebook)Mrs Andreou added that it was important to point out that her husband was having some treatment for low testosterone levels, which she had told police. She continued: "Ever since he started that treatment I noticed things amplified. For me, all the paranoia would just get worse and worse every time."
Adding that he continued to inject to feel better, she said: "All I noticed was that after he would have it he would not be able to control his emotions. He said it made him more energised and less sluggish. I just saw a change."
And discussing his fluctuating mental health, she revealed he would have moments of vulnerability when "all the façade he put out" would "suddenly disappear". The pair separated in the autumn of 2021 after Mr Andreou's paranoia led him to believe his wife was trying to get him in trouble with the police.
She explained that for his birthday after their had split she made him a video collage of images he didn't have on his phone.
One showed him spraying graffiti onto a railway bridge, which he believed would have resulted in a prison sentence if police had seen it.
Mrs Andreou stopped contact between Mr Andreou and his son in August 2022, two months before his death. She told the coroner's court: "I didn't recognise the man that he was anymore. I was made aware that he had quite a few female guests going round to the house and I did not know who they were."
Area Coroner Jason Pegg said that while it was possible the jabs had contributed to his suicide, he could not be certain. "Four months or so after the birth of [his son], Sergio started having testosterone injections on a regular basis," he said. "In [his wife's] view, that coincided with significant changes in Sergio's mood.
"It seems to me that Sergio was experiencing problems at the time of his death. There is a possibility [his paranoia] could have been because of his testosterone treatment. But, evidence on that is not what it could be."
Medical research, meanwhile, has shown there is a link between paranoia and testosterone treatments as the steroid has been known to make people suspicious of one another.
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