The first person to be charged with sex offences as part of the investigation triggered by allegations of abuse against Jimmy Savile took his own life by a deliberate drug overdose, an inquest heard yesterday.
Chauffeur David Smith, 67, was found dead at his home after failing to turn up at Southwark Crown Court in London for the start of his trial on October 28.
A warrant was issued ordering Smith to turn up at court the following day - but when officers arrived at his home in Lewisham, London, they found his body.
Dr Peter Jerreat told the inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court that the cause of death was drug intoxication.
Senior Coroner Dr Andrew Harris said the case contained all the "ingredients" to prove he killed himself. He said: "I am satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt the ingredients are found and accordingly I should deliver a conclusion that he took his own life."
The coroner said he had "deliberately taken a fatal combination" of drugs. Smith had faced two counts of indecent assault, two of indecency with a child, and one of buggery, all relating to a 12-year-old boy, between June 1 and July 21 1984.
Smith was a prolific sex offender whose first conviction was in 1966. He had 22 convictions for sexual offences against young boys.
Court documents from the criminal case said there was "no evidence to suggest any connection" between Smith and Savile, though the former "was contracted to work as a driver for the BBC in the relevant period".
The corporation reported that in the latest court case it was alleged that Smith met his victim at a swimming pool and invited him back to his flat, where he sexually abused him.
He also took the boy to visit the BBC studios at White City in London. The boy claimed he was indecently assaulted on the journey.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article