A FINANCIAL advisor who drowned in the sea off Castletown in the summer took his own life, an inquest has ruled.
Coroner John Needham recorded a verdict of suicide on 32-year-old Andrew Paul David Cross, whose body was discovered on the beach at Scarlett on June 26 this year.
The court heard police had discovered a suicide note and a rudimentary will in Mr Cross’s flat at the Majestic Apartments in Onchan.
A statement from Jo Kemsley described how she had exchanged emails with Mr Cross and had met him for the day in London just two days before his death.
‘The relationship was not a romantic one,’ she said. ‘But he seemed cheerful, optimistic and we talked about the future and meeting again in July.’
But the following day she received an email from Mr Cross which alluded to accusations made against him and added that ‘as a result of the ignorance of the accusers’, he planned to take his own life. Miss Kemsley’s statement said she had tried to call Mr Cross but his telephone was switched off, so she dialled 999 to report what the email said.
‘I emailed Andrew in the hope that he might read it before it was too late,’ she said. ‘I continued calling him in the hope I could talk him out of it. He told me he had recently changed his telephone number because he had been receiving nuisance calls. He struck me as a well-balanced individual.’
A statement from Constable Emily Perkins confirmed that Mr Cross had been arrested and interviewed in June about an alleged offence but he had not been charged with anything.
Divorcing
The court heard that Mr Cross and his wife were in the process of divorcing. A statement from his wife, Julia Cross, said the couple had lived originally at Rose Hill Mews before moving to Castletown.
Though the relationship had failed, she said they had remained amicable.
Mrs Cross said she saw Mr Cross’s Renault Clio drive past her at sometime around 8.20pm on June 25. Soon afterwards she received a text from him saying goodbye and adding that he was at Scarlett Point, which he said he remembered as his happiest place.
Mrs Cross said she went with her father to Scarlett Point and found a police car there as well as Mr Cross’s car. When she returned home she found an email saying: ‘Goodbye. By the time you read this I will have killed myself.’
A full-scale search was started and the lifeboat was launched soon before 10pm to check the coastline from Scarlett to Poill Vaaish quarry. Bad weather forced the search to be abandoned at shortly before 2am, with the intention of resuming later that morning.
Mr Cross’s body was found on June 26 on the shore about 100 yards from Queen Street, Castletown. A post-mortem examination by Dr Christopher Clague confirmed the cause of death to have been drowning.
Examination of his mobile telephone showed numerous unanswered calls from June 25 and the internet history on his laptop computer showed he had looked at suicide-related websites in the days before his death.
Recording his verdict, Mr Needham said: ‘The police investigation may have been the reason for him taking his own life. He did not feel he had done anything illegal and he was not charged with any offence.’
Mr Needham said evidence suggested that Mr Cross had entered the sea at about 9pm but the precise time of death could not be established so he was obliged to record it as having been at some time between June 24 and 27.