Paul Gascoigne checks into rehab after 'threatening to kill himself'

Troubled football idol Paul Gascoigne is being treated in the Priory after another bout of bizarre behaviour during which he threatened to kill himself.

By Nick Allen

May 6, The Telegraph

The former England legend checked himself into the rehabilitation clinic in Roehampton, south-west London after having suicidal thoughts.

On Sunday he had asked staff at a luxury London hotel to bring him a steak knife and then said he was going to drown himself in a bath.

Gascoigne, 40, has struggled for years with alcoholism and depression and was detained under the Mental Health Act in February.

He was released after two weeks of treatment but the latest incident will raise further fears over his fragile state of mind.

Many senior figures in the game have compared his downward spiral to that of George Best and have voiced regret that more has not been done to help him.

His latest problems occurred while he was staying at the four-star Millennium Hotel in Knightsbridge.

He ordered a steak from room service but then cancelled the request and told staff just to bring him the knife. Fearing he planned to harm himself the hotel’s staff called in police.

But when two officers arrived at the room they found him holding his own head under the water in the bathtub and trying to keep it there.

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photo: Paul Gascoigne has struggled for years with alcoholism (By AP)