Retired police officer kills himself morning after watching daughter get married

A retired police inspector jumped 100 feet to his death from a motorway bridge the morning after he watched his daughter get married.

Father-of-three Grant Ardern, 60, is feared to have secretly planned his own death for several weeks but had decided to wait until he saw India Arden tie the knot with her partner, an inquest heard.

Just hours after telling his wife how much he enjoyed the wedding day and describing it as ''perfect'' Mr Ardern slipped away from his family home at 6am dressed in his pyjamas and drove to the Thelwall Viaduct near his home in Warrington, Cheshire.

His body was found later at the foot of the bridge after a passing motorist driving along the M6 spotted him falling off the parapet.

Inquiries revealed in the run up the tragedy on 30 April Mr Ardern, who worked as a community safety manager, had been suffering from work-related anxiety which had worsened due to him having to speak at a public event.

The former police officer, who had been in policing for 30 years, had previously worked for the Cheshire constabulary at Halton and had spearheaded campaigns against domestic violence before leaving the service in 2008. In recent years he had been working with organisations across the the world and advising them on crime fighting schemes.

His wife Deborah, 56, a civilian co-ordinator for Cheshire Police said: "He was so anxious because he wanted to do it but didn't want to upset us before the wedding. That's why I think that he was so anxious and catatonic and mood shifting towards the end.

''The night we had come home from the wedding he was so calm and thinking back, I believe he thought he was ready to go.

"He told me how much of a good time he had had at the wedding, how much he loved the children and how much he loved me and that it had been a perfect day. It's clear to me now that he was saying goodbye."

She added: ''He was getting more anxious in the months before Christmas and he was both depressed and anxious.

"He decided to go back to the doctor quite a few times in the last six months over small matters that were brought on by the anxiety. He decided that he needed to be on medication again - but medication just made him worse this time. Originally he told me he felt suicidal on the 8th or 9th of April and he said he thought it would be better if he was dead already.

"I can only speculate now but I think he was absolutely determined to do what he did, but he was desperate for no one to know about it.

"I was very shocked and upset when he said it to me the first time. We had been together for 30 years and it was shocking the first time he said it to me. I challenged him about it, and after a long chat he said that he would never do anything to upset me or upset the children by doing that sort of thing."

She added: "With the benefit of hindsight now I think he must have been clear in his mind what he was going to do. At the time I thought that he wouldn't do that, but now it is clear what he wanted. I think he wanted to do it earlier but he was hanging on for the wedding.''

Detective Sergeant Henderson Pierre of Cheshire Police said officers attended after getting calls from the passing motorist and also Mr Ardern's son who reported his father missing and they found his Ford car parked by the viaduct. No suicide note was found.

Recording a conclusion of suicide, Coroner Claire Walsh said: "He made suggestions to his wife and son that he was suicidal but told health professionals that he didn't have any suicidal or self harm intentions.

"Mrs Ardern made a comment that resonated with me, she believes that he was absolutely determined to do what he did but he was desperate for others and his family to not know. I am satisfied that he knew what he was doing.''

Cavendish Press