Police chief asked wife’s forgiveness

The police chief found dead on Mount Snowdon in March sent a series of desperate text messages to his wife apologising for having an affair and asking for forgiveness, an inquest into his death has heard.

The inquest at Caernarfon, north Wales, heard how Mike Todd, the chief constable of Manchester, told his wife Carolyn that he planned to "end it all". In a final text he wrote: "I'm sorry for what I have done, forgive me in another life."

Todd died of exposure near the summit of Snowdon after falling 30m. He had drunk gin and taken sleeping pills, which would have made him confused, the court heard.

The coroner, Dewi Pritchard Jones, said: "Michael Todd died from exposure when his state of mind was affected by alcohol, a drug, and confusion in his personal situation." He recorded a narrative verdict, saying there was insufficient evidence to support a suicide verdict, as the messages were "conflicting".

Since Todd's death it has emerged that he had been involved with around a dozen women in the past five years. His widow, who wiped away tears as the coroner delivered his verdict, said she had forgiven her husband for his affairs.