Leominster river deaths: double suicide (From Hereford Times)

Leominster river deaths: double suicide

2:48pm Tuesday 30th June 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

TWO Leominster men who died in the freezing River Lugg told friends of a suicide pact on a social networking website just hours before they went missing, an inquest heard today.

Giving evidence into the deaths of Andrew Smith and Paul Smith (no relation) Sharon Cuthbertson told a hearing in Hereford that in a Facebook message on December 30 last year Andrew said he was feeling down and that he and Paul planned to kill themselves.

Their bodies were pulled from the river on January 3 after police found items including a neatly folded jumper and a bottle of vodka on the bank nearby following days of investigation into their disappearance.

Deputy coroner Mark Bricknell said Andrew, 40, of Cursneh House, and Paul, 43, of Sand Pits, had both experienced mental difficulties and depression before recording the verdict that they took their own lives.

*For the full story see this week’s Hereford Times.