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Inquest hears shocking testimony of Pete Newbon's final moments
A Yorkshire inquest recorded a verdict of suicide in the case of the former Northumbria academic
April 4, 2023 15:01
A Yorkshire inquest recorded a verdict of suicide in the case of the former Northumbria academic
April 4, 2023 15:01A North Yorkshire inquest has heard about the tragic final moments of academic Pete Newbon, who died in January last year after falling from a road bridge near his home.
According to the Yorkshire Post, Dr Newbon, 38, left his home after a disagreement with his wife and was spotted by several passersby alongside the A64 dual carriageway.
A family returning from a trip to York saw a 'dark figure' fall from the bridge before being struck by several cars.
Police forensic expert Paul Harris told the inquest that Dr Newbon was captured on CCTV a number times before reaching the bridge and that none of the cars that hit him were speeding or defective.
He added that it would have been"‘difficult for drivers to identify him as a hazard" due to the poor visibility on the road and Dr Newbon's dark clothing.
Jonathan Leach, a North Yorkshire assistant coroner recorded a verdict of suicide, saying that there was clear evidence of intention from Dr Newbon based on a text message he sent to his daughter before his death.
Dr Newbon was a director of the anti-racism group Labour Against Antisemitism as well as a lecturer at Northumbria University specialising in humanities.
Dr Newbon was a well-known Jewish campaigner against antisemitism. Eight months before his death, he posted a message on Twitter about children’s author Michael Rosen which was investigated by Northumbria University.
At the time of his death, Dr Newbon's wife, writer, and academic Rachel Hewitt wrote on Twitter: “Pete Newbon was my best friend, my partner-in-crime, my beautiful, kind husband, a brilliant reader & scholar, the best daddy in the world to our three beautiful daughters, and I just don’t know how we’re going to bear his loss. I’m broken into a million unbearably painful pieces,”
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