NEWHAVEN: LIFEBOAT CREW'S GRISLY SEA FIND

The decomposed body of Gerald Barnes was found four miles off the coast of Newhaven on February 25.

Police had carried out an unsuccessful search for Barnes, a divorced father-of-three, after his clothes were found neatly folded on the Palace Pier in Brighton more than a month earlier.

It was believed he plunged into the sea and drowned.

Barnes, 50, had travelled from his home in Nuneaton to the South Coast after he was arrested for indecently assaulting a young girl at a family party on New Year s Day.

His sister, Sylvia Staines, also from Nuneaton, was the last person to speak to him after his arrest.

She broke down in tears as she told the inquest, at Eastbourne Magistrates Court, how she confronted Barnes the day before his disappearance.

She said: I knew that he had been accused of paedophilia. I just asked him: Why Ged? They were the last words I spoke to him.

Detective Constable Colin Lea, from the Nuneaton Child Protection Unit, interviewed Barnes.

He said: We received a complaint from a mother of a child alleging the child had been indecently assaulted at a function where Mr Barnes had been present.

Allegations

Barnes was arrested and admitted to police the allegation was true. He referred to the assault as a lapse of strength on his part , said DC Lea.

He was released on bail until February 21 while police investigated the incident and two other allegations of indecent assault on a child.

The next day Barnes s driving licence, address book and bail sheet were found, along with his clothes, at the end of the Palace Pier behind an amusement ride. A full scale search found no trace of his body.

Then, on February 25, police were informed that the Newhaven lifeboat had picked up a body, clothed only in pair of trousers, four miles off Newhaven.

Dental records revealed the body to be Barnes.

Pathologist Nigel Kirkham said because of the length of time the body had been in the water it was impossible to be 100 per cent medically certain of the cause of death. But he added that it was most likely Barnes had died as a result of drowning.

Coroner Brendan Salsbury agreed it was the most plausible cause of death. He added: I am left in no doubt that this was not an accident but a deliberate attempt to take his own life.

Verdict: suicide.

Published: 7.6.01 T R Beckett Ltd