What are we actually doing to help people like Paul?'

Actress Tina Malone opens up about losing her husband to suicide as she fights for action and change

- SUSAN LEE

These are the last text messages Tina Malone ever received from her husband Paul - and when she reads them the tears fall again.

"Tina, you gave me everything. I love you unconditionally. You made my life perfect throughout the chaos. Forgive me," wrote the 41-year-old former soldier.

Hours after sending them Paul died by his own hand leaving Tina and their 10-year-old daughter Flame devastated.

"The texts were sent at about 4am but I have an old phone and they didn't come through straight away. When they finally arrived the police were already at my house breaking the news that he'd gone," says the Shameless star of that terrible day in March.

But even as officers were knocking on the door of the Liverpool home she shared with Paul, nicknamed "Chevy" by army pals thanks to his surname Chase, the 61-year-old actress knew something was terribly wrong.

"Paul hadn't come home the previous night. There are woods opposite the house and as I was leaving to take Flame to school I heard sirens and saw flashing blue lights and I knew. I just knew.

"I got home and then there was a knock. When I opened the door the police were there. I said, 'It's Paul isn't it?' "We'd been through hell in the 12 months before he died. He had felt so lost, so useless.

He couldn't fight any more." We meet in a hotel room in her native city, the bright spring sunshine pouring in through large windows and contrasting sharply with Tina’s still-raw grief. This is the first time she has spoken about the suicide of her “honest, caring, kind” life partner.