A white witch walked into the sea where he drowned following a bizarre occult ceremony.

Derek Taylor's body was discovered washed up on a West Sussex beach.

Mystery surrounds the death and his tormented family are left not knowing whether he intended to give up his life as some sort of sacrifice.

The 60-year-old, of Ewell Court, Bexhill, had a deep fascination with the occult and magic which had taken over his life, an inquest heard.

On the fateful night, he was driven to Rustington beach with close friend Robert Truelove, who also practiced witchcraft.

Both men had been talking about a ritual and a full moon while writing symbols and drawing emblems.

Mr Truelove carried a 2ft ceremonial sword, while Mr Taylor had a walking stick, West Sussex Coroner Roger Stone was told. A ceremony involving a circle and wood occurred.

In an interview with police shortly after the incident, Mr Truelove said Mr Taylor had strode out to sea and then dived in before floating on his back.

He recalled how he noticed Mr Taylor was being drawn further out, floating westwards. But it was too late to go in and save him.

Mr Truelove said: "I said I didn't think he had the bottle to do it. I said 'do it, do it man'. The waves took him about three or four metres out.

"I went into the water but I couldn't help him."

Recording an open verdict, Mr Stone said there was no evidence that Mr Taylor had been forced to go into the sea or that he meant to kill himself.

He explained: "I can't satisfy myself, because of certain bizarre circumstances prior to him entering the water, whether he went in and was going to come out again but was swept away."

The death took place in February. A pathologist's report found Mr Taylor, who was unemployed and in receipt of benefits, had died by drowning. There were no signs of restraints or injuries to indicate he had been forced into the sea.

Low levels of valium, cannabis and a derivative of cocaine were discovered in his blood but were not high enough to have had any effect on him.

In a written statement read at the inquest at Worthing Hospital, Mr Gregory De-

Fillipohe revealed how he had driven Mr Taylor and Mr Truelove to the beach.

Mr De-Fillipohe, of no fixed address, had met the couple for the first time that day at a mutual friend's house.

He said: "They tried to get me to stay with them but I said no. I thought they were going to perform a ritual. When they went off down the beach I didn't see them again."

Mr Taylor's ex-wife, Anna Taylor, said she had split up with him in the Seventies because of his obsession with former King of the Witches, Alex Sanders.

She subsequently noted that he had become closely involved with Mr Truelove. The pair had even moved into Mr Taylor's father's house.

Mr Taylor was not mentally strong and had a history of problems with depression, said Mrs Taylor. He had been diagnosed with a personality disorder and was treated for a schizophrenic-type illness. He insisted that he had many previous lives and killed himself in those, so one day he would kill himself again.

The inquest also heard that Mr Taylor was heavily in debt.

But Mrs Taylor added: "There were lots of happy times and he did a lot of good stuff. When the kids were little he was a great dad, very kind. He loved them all." After the inquest, Mr Taylor's son Giles said: "It looks like he was involved in a ceremony of some sort but I believe he was going to come back again, it just got all out of control. But we will never really know exactly what happened."