March 12, 2008

"Why Did Top Cop Throw Himself Off A Cliff?" asked the front page of the Daily Mirror this morning.

Because Michael Todd was discovered at the bottom of a cliff on Snowdon, the presumption - important word, that - is that he tumbled off it, whether pushed, slipped, or killed himself.

It's got all the ingredients, hasn't it?

A top cop tipped to be a Met Commissioner; a bit of a ladies man, estranged from his wife; rumoured to have a "love-child" with a former female colleague; suffered bouts of depression; was humiliated when his "independent" investigation into whether US troops illicitly landed on British soil when transferring Guantanamo Bay prisoners declared firmly and comprehensively that they hadn't, only for this insidiously spineless Government to later apologise in the Commons for having covered up the fact it had allowed the US to do just that; had talked suicide before; letters to loved ones were found "scattered around his body"; had "worrying conversations" with unnamed sources about his mental state before.

(Although clearly not so worrying that they thought an officer with the ultimate say over ordering his staff to shoot people dead might need to be removed from such a situation while he got help, obviously.)

And now this, tonight, from the BBC:

Sources said Mr Todd was found lying down on a sloping track next to a bottle of spirits.

Tests have found no obvious signs of trauma, suggesting he did not jump or fall to his death.

Further tests are being carried out to determine if any alcohol or drugs were in his blood.

Coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones said the post-mortem examination took place on Wednesday morning.

He added: "We're hoping to have the toxicology done by tomorrow morning."

A number of letters addressed to his loved ones have since been found but police said no letters were found at or near the scene of his death.

Years - and years - ago, I remember a story about a teenager found dead at the bottom of a tower block in Liverpool.

"Teenager in death plunge," went the headline.

In fact, he'd been stabbed to death in a mugging as he walked past the tower block.

Reporters, eh?

"Assume" - it really does make an "ass" out of "u" and "me".