Sky News journalist James Forlong told how he felt he had been "shafted" just two days before he was found hanged.

The reporter, who resigned from his job after admitting faking a report during the Iraq war, confided in former colleague Sue Young as they sat on a train from Brighton to London on Thursday morning.

Ms Young, a Brighton-based journalist, said: "James used the word shafted. He felt he had been hung out to dry."

Mr Forlong, 44, was found hanging at his home in Barrowfield Drive, Hove, early Saturday morning.

His wife, Elaine, cut him down and tried to revive him but he was dead.

Mr Forlong resigned from his post of joint defence and royal correspondent at Sky News in July after he was accused in a BBC documentary of fabricating a report.

The report purported to show a missile being fired from a Royal Navy submarine into Baghdad.

However, the pictures were from library stock, the submarine was docked and sequences showing HMS Splendid's crew had been staged.

Sky News said last night it was unable to comment on Ms Young's claims other than to reiterate Mr Forlong's own words, when he described the fake report as "a single lapse of judgement which, for me, is a source of deep regret".

Mr Forlong's widow said her husband had been shattered after losing his job.

In a statement last night Mrs Forlong said she and her 15-year-old son Christopher, who has Down's syndrome, and daughter, Katie, 12, were in a state of shock.

She said: "The family are devastated by his death, which we are still trying to come to terms with. James was a devoted, loving father and husband and we shall all miss him desperately.

"James had been shattered by the recent blow to his career as a journalist. He deeply felt the loss of his job as a television correspondent.

"James was an award-winning journalist who had spent the last ten years travelling to some of the world's worst trouble spots, including Rwanda, Bosnia, Indonesia and Afghanistan, and cared passionately about his work."

A post-mortem examination was being carried out today but Sussex Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Mr Forlong was first suspended by Sky after a BBC documentary series, Fighting The War, exposed his false report.

Mr Forlong was embedded aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the war.

After the allegations were aired, Mr Forlong said: "There was never any conscious intent to deceive the viewers."

Following Mr Forlong's suspension, his producer Lucy Chaytor was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Mr Forlong began his career with the West Sussex County Times and The Argus, then became a radio reporter for the BBC. He switched to television in 1988, reporting for ITN from Somalia, Syria, Lebanon and Bosnia.

He joined Sky News as senior foreign correspondent in 1993 and worked in South Africa, India and throughout Asia.

Friends last night said Mr Forlong gave no hint he was contemplating suicide.

A keen windsurfer, he was well known by fellow enthusiasts at Shoreham Beach.

Mr Forlong bought a beach hut there to use as a base when he was windsurfing and only last week helped a fellow surfer who got into trouble.

He was a regular customer at the Surfladle surf shop in Ferry Road, Shoreham Beach, where shocked owners James Burt and Danny Dunstan saw him a week ago.

Mr Burt said: "We knew him well and of the hundred or so regular windsurfers who come here he was one of the nicest.

"He jumped into the surf to help someone who got into difficulty when he was launching his board last week.

"Not everyone would do that if the sea was rough but James went straight in without any thought for himself.

"He helped the guy who was in trouble to get his gear out of the water so that it did not get smashed by the waves.

"James came into the shop around then and was his usual self and there was no sign that anything was wrong."