Husband, 34, found hanged from tree where he and wife first kissed
A father-of-three hanged himself from the tree where he and his wife had their first kiss, an inquest heard.
Parmajit Singh Sidhu, aged 34, was found in the tree in Dartmouth Park, West Bromwich, hours after texting his wife to say: "I will wait for you in my next life babes, you will find me under the tree where we first kissed."
An inquest in Smethwick yesterday was told how Mr Sidhu, from Katsura Close, Streetly, was found by police on May 28 last year following a five-hour search, after his wife Amarjit alerted his family and the police.
Black Country coroner Robin Balmain was told that Mr Sidhu, who was also known as Datus, and his wife had separated earlier in the year and that he went to Canada shortly before his death, although she said that it was not certain that it would be a permanent separation. He was also told how she had tried calling him back a number of times to try to reach him after his text message, before calling several members of his family, and then the police, before a search was launched.
Pc Thomas Parkes, who attended the scene, said Mr Sidhu was found hanged about 20 to 25ft in the air. He said: "The original call came shortly after 11am from Mrs Sidhu regarding a text message about the place where they first kissed, which she knew to be Dartmouth Park.
"But she could not give a precise location."
Police then used Mr Sidhu's mobile phone signals to try to find him, which placed him within the area of Dartmouth Park. His body was discovered at about 5pm that day.
While recording his verdict that Mr Sidhu killed himself, Mr Balmain said: "It's not the function of an inquest to deal with motive."
He also said that these types of cases were 'enormously distressing', and that he had a general concern that the number of inquests he has conducted in the past year or two where hanging was involved had increased 'dramatically'.
After the inquest, Mr Sidhu's mother Sanjit Kaur described the lorry driver and former soldier as 'very family orientated'.
She said: "He was well known in the community, and there were over 700 people at his funeral, who came from all over the world."
His uncle Manjit Sidhu described him as a 'brilliant nephew' who was always there to help anyone.
