POLICE chief Michael Todd died of exposure on a Welsh mountainside when his state of mind was affected by alcohol, sleeping drugs and confusion over turmoil in his private life, a coroner has ruled.

North West Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones said there was not enough evidence to rule that Mr Todd took his own life or died from an accident on the isolated spot in Snowdonia where his snow-covered body was found.

The inquest heard that Mr Todd, 50, sent a series of desperate text messages to friends and browsed suicide websites after his wife Carolyn confronted him over an extra-marital affair just a few days before his death. 

Speaking after the inquest in Caernarfon ended, Mrs Todd, 47, said: "In his last email to me, Michael said, 'I really am so sorry for all the hurt I have caused you. I just hope that you will be able to forgive me, at least in part, some day.'

"I have forgiven him and Michael's family have forgiven him."

"The tragedy is that Michael never felt able, during his career, to seek the help he badly needed. And he never knew that we could and have forgiven him."

Sub-zero temperatures

Mr Todd, who was Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, perished on Snowdon on a freezing night in March this year after walking up the mountain in sub-zero temperatures, the inquest heard.

After reaching the summit, he walked a short way back down the mountainside and settled into a sheltered hollow as he faced wind chill temperatures of -18C. Lying on the ground, he consumed half a bottle of gin and took Nytol sleeping tablets while listening to the radio in the dark.

He removed his jacket, apparently disorientated and confused as hypothermia set in, and tripped or slipped a short distance down the mountainside. His body was found covered in snow the following day.

The inquest heard that five days earlier, on Thursday March 6, a visitor had called at Mr Todd's family home in Nottinghamshire and told his wife Carolyn that her husband was having an affair.

Mrs Todd confronted her husband in a telephone conversation and he confessed to her that he had been unfaithful.

The following day Mr Todd used his computer to look up information on the internet about committing suicide by taking an overdose of paracetamol and began sending a series of harrowing text messages to friends.

Click here to read the full details of the last text messages

Coroner Mr Pritchard-Jones ruled that the recipients of Mr Todd's text messages should not be named at the hearing.

Mr Todd is known to have had an affair with the head of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Angie Robinson, but she did not give evidence at the inquest.

Shortly after he was confronted about his infidelity by his wife, Mr Todd sent a message to a friend named only as Person A in which he described the discovery of the affair as the "nightmare scenario". The message said that he needed a week to sort everything out and then he would kill himself.

On Saturday March 8 Mr Todd sent a message to a friend named only as Person G, which said: "I'm in a dark place". The inquest heard that Mr Todd spent the Saturday night with Person G at his flat in Manchester city centre.

The following day, after Person G had left his flat, Mr Todd used his computer to search for more information about committing suicide before he drove alone to the Lake District and sent more desperate text messages.

While he was in Cumbria on March 9, Mr Todd sent text messages to another friend described as Person C, saying he was sorry for all the pain he had caused. Another message said: "I have just about had enough of everything."

Other messages were sent to a friend described as Person B who works for the Metropolitan Police.

Shortly after midnight Mr Todd sent a further message to Person C saying he intended to "end it all" and had driven 115 miles to Cumbria but “bottled out”.

Minutes later he sent Person C another message reading, “just got back to Manchester from the lakes. Really fell out with Carolyn but will try to sort it out tomorrow”.

"Forgive me in another life"

The following day, Monday March 10, Mr Todd took the day off work, telling colleagues he was a "bit fed up" and in the afternoon drove his black Range Rover to Llanberis, North Wales.

He took a rucksack and packed a radio, a bottle of gin, a bottle of champagne and a tumbler. Mr Todd also took his mobile phone and sent more text messages to friends.

His final text message was sent at 7.33pm on Monday, March 10 to Person C . It said: “Don't send any more messages, it will cause you grief. I'm sorry for what I have done, forgive me in another life.”

At 9.28pm Person B called Mr Todd on his mobile phone but all they heard was a heavy breathing noise and no words. Person C and Person B both contacted Greater Manchester Police to say they were concerned about his welfare.

The inquest heard police initially feared Mr Todd may have been kidnapped when he disappeared on March 10.

GMP Deputy Chief Constable Dave Whatton told the hearing that a senior constable of Nottinghamshire Police visited Mrs Todd's home in Halam, Notts, to inform her of his disappearance.

Mr Whatton said: “We were told about an incident on the Thursday where Mrs Todd was confronted about an affair that Mr Todd was having and she had spoken to Mr Todd.

“That started alarms bell ringing. It changed the whole view of the search.”

The inquest heard how Mr Todd's colleagues first became concerned about his welfare when his driver was unable to contact him.

In an attempt to locate Mr Todd a check was done to locate his mobile phone and a signal was picked up within 700 metres radius of a mast in North Caernarfon.

As a result, the search was centred around the Menai Straits.

Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Heywood said a full description of Mr Todd was given to North Wales Police and the registration number of his vehicle but a decision was taken not to give his name at that stage.

“If it was a kidnap we needed to keep it covert and also if he was in an embarrassing situation – that went through my mind as well.”

Listening to the radio

Mr Todd's body was found the following day, March 11, on Bwlch Glas a mountain pass about 300ft below the top of Snowdon and a half mile walk from the summit.

The inquest heard that Mr Todd had apparently been sitting on the ground drinking gin and listening to a radio before he tripped on rocks and went sliding 30 metres down a slope.

Inspector David Gerwyn Lloyd said his body was found face down in the snow. His clothing had ridden up his stomach and his legs.

Insp Lloyd said Mr Todd's body appeared to be in a “resting position”, the left arm under his chest and his forehead resting on his other arm.

He said the Chief Constable appeared to have moved his arms to make himself more comfortable.

There was a 30 metre slide mark in the snow and in the last five metres of it a smear of blood.

He put this down to cuts on his face, forehead, knees and knuckles – none of which would have been life-threatening.

Mr Todd was wearing two layers of clothing on his top half, thermal under garments, trekking trousers and mountain boots. His jacket was missing.

About 100 metres from where his body was found, two hikers who had raised the alarm found his rucksack, a radio, a half empty bottle of gin, an unopened bottle of champagne and broken tumbler.

Insp Lloyd said: “The impression I got was that he was sitting or lying in a wind-sheltered hollow and had placed his radio at almost head height on what appeared to be an almost natural shelf and placed other items on the ground around him”

The coroner said: “It appears that he was sitting there, drinking gin, listening to the radio.”

Mr Lloyd replied: “That is the impression I gained.”

The inquest heard that Mr Todd had 105mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system, more than the legal driving limit which is 83mg of alcohol. In addition he had 6.4mg per litre of blood pf Diphenhydramine – sold over the counter as Nytol.

Dr Keith Griffths said the amount of the drug was well above a therapeutic level which would be taken if you were struggling to sleep. He said: “It is a toxic level but I would say it would be below a fatal level”.

Dr Griffiths said the cause of death was hypothermia accelerated by the effects of alcohol and Nytol.

Coroner Mr Pritchard-Jones said that Mr Todd had sent a series of “conflicting” text messages. Some indicated that he had suicidal intentions but other messages referred to him getting on with life and preparing for things he had to do at work.

Describing Mr Todd's final movements, the coroner said: “He walked a short distance down the slope, dropped a bottle of champagne he was carrying and eventually slipped and slid into a slight depression where he was found.

“He would have felt sleepy and put his head on his arm in a childlike manner. He lay there until the effects of hypothermia killed him. It was so cold that he was frozen to the ground.”

Mr Todd who took over at GMP in 2002 was married with three children, and highly regarded as a charismatic and successful police chief.

An inquiry into his death led by West Midlands chief constable, Sir Paul Scott-Lee will report in December.  He has been asked to examine if Mr Todd's private life impacted on his duties.

Todd's betrayal by letters