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A former cricketer arrested on suspicion of sexual assault was “in despair” before being found dead in South Africa, an inquest has heard.<\/p>\n
Cricket journalist and ex-Somerset captain Peter Roebuck, 55, died in November 2011 in Cape Town, while working as a commentator.<\/p>\n
Mr Roebuck had allegedly assaulted a 26-year-old man in his hotel room, Cheshire Coroner’s Court heard.<\/p>\n
The inquest concluded Mr Roebuck had taken his own life 13 years ago.<\/p>\n
The batsman, who played for Somerset from 1974 to 1991 and captained the county side, was a former summariser with BBC Radio’s Test Match Special.<\/p>\n
The Sydney Morning Herald columnist was staying at the Southern Sun hotel to commentate on a match between Australia and South Africa.<\/p>\n
The inquest, held on Friday, heard Mr Roebuck had allegedly sexually assaulted a 26-year-old man in his room on 7 November, when they arranged to meet to discuss whether he could financially support the student through university.<\/p>\n
A complaint was made to the police on 12 November, and officers went to Mr Roebuck’s hotel to arrest him that evening.<\/p>\n
In a statement, commentator Jim Maxwell, a friend of Mr Roebuck’s who worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, said he received a call late that evening asking him to go to his room.<\/p>\n
Mr Maxwell, who was staying on the same floor of the hotel, said he went into the room after being greeted by a police officer and saw his friend sitting on the bed.<\/p>\n
“He was totally in despair,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said Mr Roebuck asked him to contact people at his home and told him he needed a lawyer, before police then asked him to leave.<\/p>\n
In a statement, arresting officer Det Aubrey McDonald said: “Peter Roebuck mentioned he was well known in the cricket fraternity and that his arrest will be front-page news worldwide.”<\/p>\n
Mr McDonald said he stepped outside the hotel room to make a phone call and heard his colleague Lt Cecil Jacobs shouting at Mr Roebuck.<\/p>\n
An incident then took place which resulted in Mr Roebuck’s death, the inquest heard.<\/p>\n
Mr McDonald said: “At the time of the incident the deceased appeared very calm and in control of himself.”<\/p>\n
The court heard post-mortem examinations carried out in South Africa and the UK both found the cause of Mr Roebuck’s death was multiple injuries.<\/p>\n
The same cause of death was recorded at an inquest held in South Africa, which was not attended by family members.<\/p>\n
Dr Matthew Lyall, the forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination in the UK, said in his report: “There were no findings to specifically suggest that a third party was directly involved in any of the injuries, but the involvement of a third party cannot be ruled out solely on the basis of the pathological findings.”<\/p>\n
Concluding the inquest, senior coroner for Cheshire, Jacqueline Devonish, thanked family members who had attended court.<\/p>\n
She said: “I’m sorry the case has taken such a long time for us to progress, but it was in part waiting to find out about a renewed hearing in South Africa which hasn’t come to pass.”<\/p>\n
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