Michael Todd
A police chief found dead on Snowdon in March died from exposure after taking a drug and alcohol, a coroner ruled.
But there was insufficient evidence to prove that Michael Todd, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, killed himself or died through misadventure. Recording a narrative verdict, North Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said the man’s state of mind was affected by alcohol, a drug, and confusion due to his personal situation.
He had drunk gin and taken Nytol, a sleeping drug. In his final text message to someone named only as C, he said: “I’m sorry for what I have done, forgive me in another life.”
Mr Todd had a third more than the permitted blood-alcohol level for driving when he was found, though coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said this amount was not huge.
The inquest at Caernarfon heard from the force’s Deputy Chief Constable Dave Whatton that a senior policeman visited Mr Todd’s wife Carolyn Todd at the couple’s Nottinghamshire home after his disappearance. She told the officer that she had been informed her husband had been having an affair.
Mr Todd also researched methods of suicide on the Internet and asked a witness to get him some sleeping pills.
Mr Pritchard-Jones ruled that recipients of the texts be identified only by initials.
Senior police officers in Great Manchester and North Wales were the only ones initially informed of Mr Todd’s disappearance, after his driver became worried because he could not contact him. This was, Mr Whatton told the inquest, for security reasons.
Police had first feared Mr Todd might have been kidnapped but, after speaking to his wife, the focus of the search changed. His mobile phone messages were traced to an area within 700m of a mast in north Caernarfon.
North Wales police were given a description of Mr Todd and his car registration number, but his name was not divulged immediately. Detective Chief Superintendent Steven Heywood told the inquest the fact that Mr Todd might have been in an embarrassing situation also occurred to him.
Mr Pritchard-Jones told the hearing he would only be examining where, when and how Mr Todd met his death. He would also be considering how the search was conducted.
Mr Todd’s body was found on Bwlch Glas, 90m (290ft) beneath Snowdon’s summit, on 11 March.
Conspiracy theories abounded at the time, due to the unusual circumstances of the search and the fact that Mr Todd had been charged with investigating the CIA’s ‘extraordinary rendition’ activities in the UK.
It soon emerged, however, that Mr Todd had had a series of extra-marital affairs.
After the hearing, Mr Todd’s widow issued a statement which said: “In his last email to me, Michael said ‘I really am so sorry for all the hurt I have caused you. I just hope that you will be able to forgive me, at least in part, some day’.
“I have forgiven him and Michael’s family have forgiven him. The tragedy is that Michael never felt able, during his career, to seek the help he badly needed. And he never knew that we could and have forgiven him.”
The West Midlands Chief Constable Sir Paul Scott-Lee is examining whether Mr Todd’s private life affected his duties. The inquiry is being run under the auspices of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
