A 36-year-old man who was due in court today, charged with helping another man commit suicide at Beachy Head, is thought to have taken his own life.

Louis Gillies of Bank Street, Glasgow, was expected at Lewes Crown Court accused of aiding and abetting the suicide of Michael Gooden, 35, of south London.

When he didn't turn up, police went to his flat and found the body of a hanged man.

A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said inquiries were at an early stage.

Mr Gillies was charged with aiding Mr Gooden's suicide between May 20 and June 7 last year. Mr Gooden's body was found washed up at Eastbourne.

Diane Chan, who had been due to prosecute the case, told the court that though no formal identification had been made, a suicide note signed by Mr Gillies had been found with the body.

She added: "One of the Scottish officers who has met him before said he had seen the body and said the identity of the man hanged was Mr Gillies."

Judge Anthony Scott-Gall said: "It's a very bleak ending to a very bleak case."

It had been alleged that Gillies met Mr Gooden through an internet site called Assisted Suicide Holidays.

The court was to have heard allegations that the pair had planned to take their own lives at the cliffs near Eastbourne, but Gillies was persuaded against it by a friend who telephoned him at the scene.