A Metropolitan Police officer killed himself the day he was due to be charged with child abuse image offences, an inquest concluded.

Ch Insp Richard Watkinson’s body was found along with a handwritten note at his home in Saunderton in Buckinghamshire on 12 January.

He had failed to answer bail at Aylesbury Police Station that morning.

The inquest heard that his death occurred “against the background context” of the police investigation.