A teacher at the centre of a police probe involving two boys deliberately ditched his aeroplane into the sea, an inquest heard.

Gerald Mepham, 55, of Elm Grove, Barnham, was unable to face an investigation following his suspension from Priory School in Fratton, Portsmouth, and subsequent arrest.

This followed allegations he invited the children to pose for indecent photographs.

He flew his Piper Tomahawk aircraft into the English Channel rather than face what he believed was the stigma of an inquiry.

Mr Mepham's long-term friend Keith Lamont told the hearing in Chichester yesterday that the maths and IT teacher became "traumatised and depressed" when arrested on January 9 this year.

Mr Lamont, who lived with Mr Mepham and had known him 32 years, told West Sussex coroner Roger Stone that the following day Mr Mepham was desperate to take off from Goodwood airfield before darkness fell.

Mr Lamont said: "He was very traumatised. It affected him very badly. He was very subdued. It took a lot of talking to bring him out of it but he said he could not face the future. He did say he intended to take his life.

"He was concerned that his name and reputation would be ruined and that he might even lose his job, and he couldn't face that. He was a very proud man."

Mr Mepham took off in his Piper Tomahawk from Goodwood airfield, near Chichester, after telling air traffic controllers that he would return by 4pm the same day.

The airfield called police when he failed to return.

Radar recordings obtained by the RAF showed the plane disappeared from view on January 10.

On February 21, dog walker Alexander Dalrymple, from Bognor, spotted a skull on the beach at Pagham, near Chichester. His dog then found a body, later identified as Mr Mepham.

Mr Stone recorded a verdict of suicide, saying: "Mr Mepham had become seriously affected by a police investigation which was in the process of taking place and he indicated he could not continue."