Bride-to-be, 44, hanged herself in her home just hours after sending a desperate email to her controversial businessman fiance saying she was suicidal
- Rachel Greensmith, 44, had been in a relationship with Robert McNaughton , 51
- Ms Greensmith had been due to marry the businessman last month
- McNaughton was jailed in 2013 for failing to clear an illegal rubbish mountain
- Her inquest heard Ms Greensmith’s daughter found her mother’s body at home
Mother-of-two Rachel Greensmith, pictured, took her own life at her home in Brierley, West Midlands on April 21 last year
A bride-to-be hanged herself in her home just hours after sending a desperate email to her fiance saying she was suicidal.
Rachel Greensmith’s body was found by her daughter Leigh Darby on the morning of April 21 at the family home in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.
The 44-year-old former civil servant had been in a relationship with businessman Robert McNaughton and they were due to marry last month.
Mr McNaughton, 53, was jailed in 2013 for repeatedly failing to clear a mountain of rubbish which towered 42ft about a housing estate.
An inquest into Ms Greensmith’s death heard she had been in a relationship with Mr McNaughton for four years before she died on April 21.
Black Country Coroner’s Court heard the mother-of-two had a history of depression and anxiety and her personality had ‘changed’ after meeting Mr McNaughton.
On the afternoon of her death Ms Greensmith emailed Mr McNaughton telling him she was suicidal.
Mr McNaughton told the inquest he raced to her home to check on her and stayed with her for a couple of hours before going home.
He said returned at around 11.30pm after Ms Greensmith failed to answer her phone.
When nobody answered the door, he assumed she had gone out and he went home and continued to call her until the early hours of the morning.
Her body was found the next morning by her daughter.
Ms Greensmith, left, emailed Robert McNaughton, right on the day she died in April 2018
In 2013, McNaughton was jailed after he failed to remove this rubbish montain
When questioned by Ms Darby why he didn’t call the police, Mr McNaughton said: ‘I had no thought whatsoever that she would do that.
‘With hindsight I would have kicked the door down myself.’
PC Stuart Ward said he had to break up an ‘altercation’ between Miss Darby and Mr McNaughton who were at the house when her body was discovered.
He said: ‘Clearly the family didn’t want him at that location. I advised him to leave to prevent any further problems.
TRhe inquest heard Ms Greensmith’s depression worsened during her relationship with Mr McNaughton
‘There was no sign of a disturbance or forced entry at the property.’
Rachel’s distraught family described how they had concerns about Ms Greensmith’s relationship with Mr McNaughton.
Miss Darby said her mother had been ‘confident, very beautiful, very well dressed and well mannered’ before meeting Mr McNaughton.
She told the inquest on Wednesday that her mother’s depression and anxiety worsened during her time with Mr McNaughton and she was ‘very controlled’.
Mr McNaughton said their relationship was ‘verbally volatile’ but said she made him ‘exceptionally happy’.
Black Country Coroner Zafar Siddique said: ‘When I asked him [McNaughton] about allegations he was quite clear he has never physically harmed Rachel.
‘He described the relationship as “verbally volatile”.
‘The family asked why didn’t you [McNaughton] go to the police. He genuinely believed she was alright at that point.’
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