A former acute trust chief executive who faced fraud charges killed himself, an inquest has heard.

Phil Morley, former chief executive of Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust and Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in Harlow, had been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit false accounting, two counts of fraud by abuse of position and one count of false accounting.

He was found dead at the foot of Beachy Head in East Sussex in May, days before he was due in court in Hull.

East Sussex assistant coroner Catharine Palmer said she was satisfied that Mr Morley intended to take his own life and recorded a verdict of suicide, the BBC reports. He had been treated for depression in the months before his death, the inquest heard.

Mr Morley had been staying at a hotel nearby and was seen to jump from the cliff top. He left notes in his hotel room.

Mr Morley, who was 53, had been chief executive at Hull for four years until 2014 and then was appointed chief executive in Harlow. He left the post in 2017.

According to the BBC, the solicitor for Mr Morley’s family Stephanie Roe said: “The family are absolutely devastated. He was loved and is greatly missed.”

Amanda Pye, who had been chief nurse at Hull, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit false accounting but this was dropped in June. She is now chief nurse at London North West University Healthcare Trust but is currently on long term sick leave.

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