A 20-YEAR-OLD man from Ipplepen killed himself - a day after being arrested by police.

Steel erector Lewis Cleverdon was described by his family as a 'cheeky young man of few words' who was very sociable with friends.

An inquest at Exeter Coroner’s Court was told that on March 6 2024 police arrived at his workplace by his home in Ipplepen.

He was arrested and walked out to an unmarked police car and taken to Torquay custody centre where his father later collected him.

But Mr Cleverdon was upset and concerned what work colleagues would think as they looked on from nearby units as he was arrested.

His family told the coroner that so many police and their vehicles had turned up and told him not to worry, that it had nothing to do with him and that they loved him always.

After he was released, he did not return home that evening and did not turn up for work the next day.

His family reported him missing and a search was launched following a high risk concern for welfare.

His body was found by Dartmoor Search and Rescue members in secluded Bradley woods on March 7.

He had earlier visited a friend who said he looked 'pale, scared, stressed out and almost petrified' and during the five minutes he was with him thought Mr Cleverdon was being ‘weird’.

Police said there were no suspicious circumstances and he died from suspension by ligature.

Toxicology for alcohol and drugs was negative.

Area coroner Alison Longhorn said why Lewis was arrested was ‘not relevant to this hearing’.

She told the Exeter hearing: ‘It clearly impacted on him. There were challenging life events in the days before his death. The previous 24 hours had a significant effect on him.’

Miss Longhorn recorded a suicide conclusion.

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