An assistant chief constable took his own life while self-isolating in his garden to protect his family. An inquest into the death of James 'Jimbo' Connelly-Webster, acting Assistant Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, found his family noticed a stark deterioration in his mental health after he began isolating from them at the height of the pandemic.
He had become become "paranoid, anxious, reclusive" before he was found dead by his wife on April 1 in his chalet at the bottom of his garden in Crackington Haven, Bude.
His son Max recalled hearing his mother's anguished screams that morning. An inquest held in Truro, Cornwall, heard the 58-year-old retired officer was highly respected and well-liked but "changed completely" during