The body of Simon Colley was found on a beach in Llandudno, Wales (Picture: Manchester Evening News)

A man who sparked outrage when he kicked a poppy wreath off a war memorial has been found dead.

The body of Simon Colley was found on a beach in Llandudno, Wales, on April 29, an inquest heard.

RNLI staff member Andrew Jones was looking through his camera when he spotted what he thought was a body near the boathouse, coroner John Gittins said.

He called a colleague and considered trying to resuscitate the man, but soon realised he was dead.


Mr Colley, of Greengate, Salford, was identified from a photograph.

He was found dead on a beach in Llandudno, Wales (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

A postmortem was carried out but a decision on the cause of death has been deferred for toxicology tests.



The inquest was adjourned to a provisional date in October.

He narrowly avoided being sent to jail last March for desecrating the Cenotaph at St Peter’s Square in Manchester city centre last February, the Manchester Evening News reported.

CCTV footage showed him casually walking to the memorial before taking a run up and kicking one wreath away.

He tried to get away but was soon arrested by two police officers, Manchester magistrates court heard last year.

He pleaded guilty to using threatening words or behaviour towards an officer and was handed a suspended sentence.

He was also given a criminal behaviour order which stopped him entering the city centre for two years.

He also admitted being drunk and disorderly in Piccadilly Gardens on February 15 and was later jailed for 24 weeks after being found intoxicated in the city centre, one day after walking away from court last March.