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Alfred Ripley's body was discovered by workmen in Sittingboune last October after he went missing in August 2013
00:01, 28 January 2015
A paranoid schizophrenic on Kent Police’s Most Wanted list is likely to have died hours after he was charged with raping an underaged girl.
The badly decomposed remains of Alfred Ripley, who was homeless, were found in thick undergrowth at a Bovis Homes development in Lomas Road, Murston, last October.
The 36-year-old had not been seen since he was charged with the offence on August 7 2013.
He had been living with girlfriend Cheralee Hudson at the time but his bail prohibited him from returning to that address.
Unable to return home Mr Ripley went to the Quays Hostel, in Crown Quay Lane, for emergency accommodation but was told there were no rooms available, leaving him homeless.
“I have had enough of it, I didn’t do this babe” - one of Alfred Ripley's final text messages
That same afternoon he sent his girlfriend, who he had been with since May 2012, a text which read: “Can I please, please end it all.”
Two earlier messages read: “I have had enough of it, I didn’t do this babe” and “I am going to miss you so much. I feel like going for a drink and having a long swim.”
Miss Hudson told him she would drive to meet him but became involved in a car accident en route which forced her to go to hospital.
She would never see him again.
Insp Patrick Holmes, from Kent Police, was tasked with investigating the case.
He told Kate Thomas, assistant coroner, that a shirt in the shape of a noose was found hanging from a tree above Mr Ripley’s body.
He added that Mr Ripley was found at the botttom of a six to eight feet high embankment surrounded by very dense shrubbery and, had it not been for the building work, he believes Mr Ripley’s remains would remain undiscovered.
A statement from Mr Ripley’s GP Dr Mohamed Bahgat Shar said the deceased had a long history of mental health issues, which included self harm and numerous suicide attempts.
The assistant coroner, sitting in County Hall, Maidstone, concluded with an open verdict.
She ruled out suicide because there was not enough evidence to say he killed himself beyond reasonable doubt.
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