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A former Mormon bishop whose body was found washed up on a Devon beach during his trial for alleged sex offences against two girls took his own life.

Stewart Allsford, 66, of Davies Avenue, Paignton, went missing from his home in the early hours of June 7. An extensive search was launched, involving the coastguard helicopter and RNLI lifeboat, after his car was found with the keys in the ignition at Berry Head in Brixham.

An inquest in Torquay on Tuesday heard that his body was found at Seaton in East Devon three days later, on June 10, by a holidaymaker who had been walking along the coastal path.

On the day he went missing, Mr Allsford had been due to attend the third day of his trial at Exeter Crown Court. He had admitted indecently assaulting a girl when she was 14 but denied five other charges of sex abuse and one of abducting a child under 16.

Glasgow-born Mr Allsford was a representative of the Church of the Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, at the time of the alleged abuse in the 1990s.

The inquest on Tuesday heard that the medical cause of death was unascertained. The post-mortem examination by Dr Nicholas Ryley found that Mr Allsford had heart disease, but there was no clear evidence he drowned, no obvious signs of injury to show he had fallen from height, and no drugs or alcohol in his system.

DC Nikki Zulhayir said in a statement that the likely hypothesis was that he entered the water to take his own life. He left a note and sent a text message to his wife Christine, anticipating that they would be read after his death. His wife attended the inquest but declined to comment.

Coroner Ian Arrow recorded that Mr Allsford, a retired panel beater, had decided to take his own life.

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