Banker who drowned himself in his own pool feared probe by watchdog
A BANK boss drowned himself in his swimming pool after fearing he was going to be investigated by the City watchdog and sent to prison, an inquest heard.
Adrian Hill, 60, had been suffering night terrors before committing suicide at his estate.
He told his wife Belinda he was going downstairs to make a cup of tea but instead crept out into the garden and got under the cover of the swimming pool where he drowned.
The inquest heard his body was found during a search by the couple’s groundskeeper, who lived on the estate.
The millionaire had become convinced that the Financial Conduct Authority was going to send him to jail and he began to suffer from manic episodes in the months before his death. Mr Hill was involved in a bitter dispute with the regulator last year.
He called the FCA ‘a very nasty bully’ and sent it a photo of him holding a hunting rifle, blaming it for the bankruptcy of one of his businesses, The Times reported in December.
The watchdog threatened to call in police due to his furious messages, which also described senior bosses at the regulator as being akin to the former East German secret police the Stasi, according the paper.
He said at the time: ‘I’m, of course, not out to shoot them. It’s beyond ridiculous.’
The Oxford inquest heard Mr Hill told his wife he was going to make tea at their home near Henley-on-Thames in March.
He was found face- down in the water and was given CPR by paramedics before being taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Mrs Hill, 58, told assistant coroner Sonia Hayes she had
‘Posed with a shotgun’
been concerned about her husband’s manic episodes last year. The widow said in a statement: ‘Adrian had become very hyped- up and manic about certain issues and started to write excessive compulsive letters.
‘He was talking under his breath and there was a lot of getting himself into a pickle and worrying about things – worrying about his paperwork. He was concerned that a regulator was going to come and arrest him.’
Father- of-two Mr Hill was a director of HFC Bank before it was taken over by HSBC.
As a sub-prime lender, his bank gave credit to borrowers with low incomes or poor credit histories. He also held other senior positions at Tesco Personal Finance Group and British Credit Trust Holdings.
The inquest heard that on March 19, shortly after returning from a holiday in America, he visited GP Dr Shams Aljoboori, who said he was suffering anxiety and feeling under a lot of pressure.
Dr Aljoboori said: ‘ He was having some manic- like episodes, like going out and buying expensive pictures, for example. Mrs Hill said the episodes had been going on for months.’
Recording a conclusion of suicide, the coroner said she was satisfied Mr Hill had got into the swimming pool intentionally, saying it was unlikely he had opened the cover and then fallen in.
She added: ‘I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Adrian did intend to do this action. He was not under the influence of alcohol and drugs and I am satisfied that he did not fall into the pool accidentally and that he did intend to end his life.’
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