Cause of police chief's death unresolved at inquest opening

The widow of the top police officer found dead on a Welsh mountainside said yesterday that he had told her he loved her the last time they had spoken.

The body of Mike Todd, chief constable of Greater Manchester police, was discovered on Snowdon on Tuesday.

Yesterday, amid press speculation about his private life, his widow, Carolyn, said she, her husband and three children had just returned from a holiday in Jamaica. She spoke as an inquest into the death of her husband was opened and adjourned.

The inquest heard Todd had drunk alcohol, but there was no obvious sign of any injury severe enough to cost his life.

In a statement, Carolyn Todd, 50, said she and the couple's three children were "struggling to come to terms" with the death of her husband.

Todd, 50, spent his weeks in Manchester, returning to the family home in Notinghamshire at weekends which his wife shared with their daughter, Catherine, 16, and twin boys David and Matthew, 13.

Mrs Todd said: "Michael was a caring and loving father and husband. He was immensely proud of his kids. He worked away from home on the second most important thing in his life, his job, returning to us at the weekend."

"I loved Michael very much and the last time I spoke to him he told me he loved me too. We have been married for 27 years and eight months." She asked the media to let the family grieve in peace."

The inquest in Anglesey heard that before his death Todd had been drinking.

He was found dead on Tuesday after a search prompted by phone messages he sent which left his friends fearing he was in a distressed state.

His body was brought down the mountain in driving snow and heavy winds.

The inquest heard he had been fully-clothed. He was found without a coat.

The coroner, Dewi Pritchard-Jones, said: "There was no evidence this man had jumped from height or sustained any significant injuries."

Dr Anthony Caslin, who conducted the postmortem examination on Wednesday, added that there was no sign of fractures to the spine, skull, ribs and major limbs. All the major organs were normal.

The only visible injuries were minor cuts above the right eye, on the nose, to the left shin and right hand. Caslin described them all as "superficial".

Todd's blood alcohol level was 105 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 per 100 millilitres. The coroner asked: "So, not a huge amount of alcohol then?"

Caslin replied: "No, sir. It would probably have been higher several hours prior to death as the urine level was quite high."

Further toxicology tests will be carried out on the police chief's blood. "In the light of that I have withheld the cause of death until the tests are done," said Caslin.

The hearing was adjourned until a date to be fixed. Police are not treating the death as suspicious.