Email suicide pair sought recruit for poison pact

Former RAF sergeant Craige Harris, 44, from Garnett Street, Cleethorpes, and Naresh Ahir, 40, from Wolverhampton, were found dead in Mr Harris’s car in an isolated lane near the River Humber on Friday, July 8, last year.

They met the previous day after agreeing by email to kill themselves in a car using information they had found on the internet. Noting the similarity to other cases, Coroner Paul Kelly said he would write to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to register his concern about the ease with which the pair gathered the information, and the mutual support offered via the forum.

Mr Kelly recorded verdicts of suicide, but said he could not be sure “whether one or both deceaseds would be alive today were it not for the comfort, support and encouragement each gave to the other at the relevant time”.

North Lincolnshire Coroner’s Court heard extracts of email conversations between the men which revealed how rapidly the plot had developed.

On June 28, Mr Ahir wrote: “Hi Craige, thanks for getting back to me. I’m serious about this. Give me some brief details about you and where you’re from.”

Mr Harris replied: “I live in Lincolnshire, I have nothing in my life, in an abusive relationship,” adding: “I have the acid. Got everything in order. Where are you? Craige.”

The next day Mr Ahir wrote: “Looks to me you have researched this far better than I could. Cool. Your skills are truly honed.”

He continued: “Thursday is great with me. Have you had anybody else interested? I’ve had a message from a woman in London who is interested.”

The car was found by a jogger in Booth Nooking Lane, Winteringham, and displayed homemade signs warning of poisonous gas. Inside were also two suicide notes from Mr Harris, a Google map of the location, a quarter-full bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

The court heard Mr Ahir had never recovered from being attacked with a machete in 2002, when he suffered severe facial injuries and nearly lost an arm.

Mr Harris, who taught IT to adults with special needs, had been arrested in February last year as part of an investigation into the downloading of indecent images of teenagers.