Fears of going to jail led to man taking his own life in Cosham

FEARS of heading to jail and a relationship break-up led to the suicide of a man in Cosham.

Martyn Hawley died on January 24 this year. He was found hanging from a post in Tregaron Avenue.

Yesterday at an inquest into his death, Portsmouth Coroner’s Court heard how the 25-year-old would get ‘worked up’ about things and would ‘make impulsive decisions’.

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The inquest heard how Mr Hawley was on bail for his alleged link to a robbery and that he had warned his family ‘he’d rather kill himself’ than go back to jail.

Giving evidence at the hearing was Detective Constable Jasmin Curson.

Speaking of conversations Mr Hawley had with his family, DC Curson said: ‘He was worried about what would happen with his relationship to his girlfriend if he went back to prison.

‘He said he would rather kill himself before he went back to jail.

‘It had a great effect on his mental state.’

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DC Curson described Mr Hawley relationship with his girlfriend Amelia Craig as ‘volatile’ and that he had been jailed twice for domestic violence.

She explained the pair had broken up over the phone on Saturday, January 23, with Mr Hawley accusing his girlfriend of ‘cheating’.

Then, later that day, the couple met up in a park and began drinking and taking cocaine, DC Curson said.

Just before midnight, a row erupted and Ms Craig was hit on the head, suffering a minor head injury that needed treatment at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

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Mr Hawley was ‘apologetic’ and accompanied his injured girlfriend to hospital.

CCTV later saw him 
leaving the hospital and heading towards Cosham town centre.

Between 12.15am and 12.30am Mr Hawley deliberately jumped in front of a moving taxi, smashing the windscreen and denting the roof, DC Curson added.

Hours later, he was found hanged in Tregaron Avenue.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances to the death.

Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire coroner David Horsley concluded Mr Hawley had ‘taken his own life at a time of great emotional distress’.