A 53-year-old man from St Albans, who was found hanging from a tree in May, took his own life, an inquest has heard.
Peter Wernham, of Rowlatt Drive, St Albans, died on May 24 this year after struggling to cope with what he felt was an unfair conviction, Herts coroner Edward Thomas ruled.
Mr Thomas said: “He was appealing his conviction and he was very upset about it.”
Peter felt a huge amount of “bitterness” relating to his conviction, according to Mr Thomas, and on the night of his death took himself away from his home “so the authorities would find him and not his family”.
He had attended a family BBQ on the day of his death, the inquest heard, and had even helped with a member of his family’s crazy paving before he was later spotted by a cyclist that evening hanging from a rope tied to a tree.
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