Retired detective killed himself in car fire after 11-year-row with neighbour over guttering

Ex-wife says Edwin Williams was ‘highly intelligent’, but leaving police had ‘considerable effect’ on him

The body of Edwin Williams was found in a burning car in March this year (East Anglia News Service)

A retired Met police detective involved in a decade-long dispute with his neighbour over guttering took his own life, an inquest has heard.

Firefighters found the body of Edwin Williams, 74, in a burning car in the village of Cavendish in Suffolk on 6 March.

His remains were formally identified as Mr Williams by dental records.

Suffolk’s senior coroner, Nigel Parsley said fire investigation officers “believe the most likely cause of the fire was it was started deliberately from inside the vehicle” and a fire service report found there was no indication Mr Williams had been trapped.

PC Emma Stacey told the inquest in Ipswich a friend who had been staying with Mr Williams in the days before his death said that he was involved in an “ongoing neighbour dispute which had been going on for 11 years and was due to be heard in court”.

The dispute was said to have involved guttering, roofing and water ingress.

Mr Williams’ cousin, Layton Williams, said the dispute had put the former officer “under enormous psychological pressure”.

The coroner said Mr Williams had started the legal proceedings with his previous neighbours and then with the new owners of the house.

Mr Williams‘s wife Jean Williams, who was separated from him, said she thought that leaving the police force had a “considerable effect on Ed”.

“I believe he found it quite hard to adjust to the outside world,” she said.

She said he had a distinguished career, working on high profile cases before retiring from the Met in 1995 after 30 years of service, then working as a teacher.

His GP notes said he had a history of depression.

A post-mortem examination found that he died of immolation as a consequence of a car fire and Suffolk senior coroner Nigel Parsley recorded a conclusion of suicide.

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