Porn charge man hanged himself
A SUFFOLK man hanged himself on the day he was due to be sentenced for downloading child porn, an inquest has heard.Christopher Venis, 48, of Low Road, Earl Soham, had tried to kill himself before the Lowestoft inquest was told.
A SUFFOLK man hanged himself on the day he was due to be sentenced for downloading child porn, an inquest has heard.
Christopher Venis, 48, of Low Road, Earl Soham, had tried to kill himself before the Lowestoft inquest was told.
As revealed on the Evening Star's website – www.eveningstar.co.uk – yesterday, Mr Venis had been "very severely depressed" for some time,
The technical salesman had admitted 16 offences of making indecent pictures of children aged under 16 between April 1999 and March 2003, and was due to be sentenced at Bury St Edmunds Crown Court on the day he took his own life on September 25.
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He had first been due in court on July 28, but Ipswich magistrates were told his sister had telephoned to say he was in hospital after taking an overdose.
He pleaded guilty to all charges on August 18, when he appeared before South East Suffolk magistrates.
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The hearing heard through written statements how his brothers-in-law grew concerned after they could not find him when they went to pick him up for his court appearance.
"As Chris had tried to take his own life before, we were all very concerned about his welfare," said one of his brothers-in-law, Kenneth Stedman.
He described how he checked the garage doors which were locked and called out for him. He managed to force the door open with a coal chisel, discovered him, and the alarm was raised.
They cut him down and tried unsuccessfully to revive him while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
In his late 20s and early 30s Mr Venis had a drinking problem, his brother-in-law said, and in March 2003, he started drinking heavily again.
The inquest heard that he survived a previous suicide attempt when he had put on a petrol lawn mower in his garage.
Mr Venis left a cassette recording, but its contents were not revealed at the inquest.
Coroner George Leguen de Lacroix said: "Having read the transcript it is quite clear that Mr Venis was considerably disturbed about the forthcoming court appearance.
"It is quite clear that Mr Christopher Venis took his own life and I will say he did so while very severely depressed."
