A Mary Tavy man who could not bear the pain of severe headaches jumped to his death from a Tavistock viaduct, an inquest has heard.

Grandfather Martin Loats, 69, could not take the pain any longer and feared he had a brain tumour – although the cause of his headaches was never identified, an inquest was told today (Thursday, December 4).

The retired area development manager left a worrying note which his wife found after coming out of the shower at their home in Mary Tavy one morning in June last year. She immediately alerted police.

But shortly afterwards a lorry driver spotted a body lying in a car park beneath the 75ft high viaduct in the centre of Tavistock. It was that of Mr Loats.

Exeter Coroner's Court heard that Mr Loats had suffered a number of health issues over the years and for four years had suffered with 'unimaginable head pains'.

The inquest heard scans had proved inconclusive and the pains had been concluded to be 'medically unexplained'.

Mr Loats’ wife Jane said her 'loving husband and best friend' suffered dreadful constant pain which affected every aspect of his life including eating, walking, working in his home or garden, watching TV and listening to the radio or music.

Assistant Devon coroner Luisa Nicholson concluded that Mr Loats died by suicide. She observed that he had been experiencing extremely debilitating headaches, no cause had been found by doctors and he could not live with the pain any longer.