|
|
 |
| |
| Inquest revelation |
IN 1989 the New Journal reported on Mr Riley’s inquest,
during which Mr Messitt gave evidence. He told the inquest: “During
the afternoon, Mike was extremely drunk and very depressed. I had
never seen him drink anything, apart from the odd beer, before the
allegations. I told him to go out and get some sun because he had
been in this state for two weeks, just drunk and depressed, But
he just said he was going to go out in the car and head for the
nearest cliff-top.”
Other witnesses at the inquest included then Camden social worker
Ena Fry. She described Mr Riley, who worked as a student nurse at
the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, as “a very unusual man
with enormous strength of caring for some very unhappy and damaged
young people.”
Friend Yvonne Kassim told the inquest that she was Mr Riley’s
best friend. She added: “When I came to visit him, he was so
depressed. He said in Britain you are supposed to be proved guilty
but I really don’t know how to prove my innocence.”
Frank Riley, his father, added: “He had children other people
didn’t want, that other people couldn’t handle. He was
upset by the allegations but in his own mind he knew he hadn’t
done any of those things and he knew he was telling the truth.”
Coroner Dr Douglas Chambers ruled that Mr Riley had taken his own
life while the balance of his mind was disturbed – adding that
the dead man had been a “devoted foster parent.” |
| |
|
|
