Death of Scot Young ‘cannot be ruled suicide’

Scot Young's body was discovered last year. Picture: PA

Dundee-born Scot Young, 52, who was sent to prison during a bitter and public row over a multimillion-pound divorce settlement, was found on railings in Montagu Square, Marylebone, central London.

An inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court in London heard that he was battling with drug problems and bipolar affective disorder and feared a plot to kill him when he died on 8 December.

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Shirley Radcliffe said: “Police have concluded the death was non-suspicious. There is insufficient evidence to determine his state of mind and intention when he came out of the window.”

Mr Young was raised in the Stobswell area of Dundee before making his fortune as a property developer.

There has been speculation that Mr Young could have been the victim of Russian criminal gangs, but the court earlier heard that police were treating the death as non-suspicious.

Dr Radcliffe added that, after hearing the evidence, she could rule out any kind of foul play.

Mr Young’s daughters, who were present at the inquest, believe that their father did not kill himself, but police have ruled out any involvement from a third party.

Dr Radcliffe said: “I think the police are entirely correct in that there is no suspicious circumstances.”

Mr Young’s ex-wife Michelle, 50, with whom he had two daughters, had been locked in a long legal battle with him.

The couple, who started a relationship in 1989, had separated in 2006. Mr Young was jailed for six months for contempt of court during his divorce from his former partner, who accused him of hiding assets worth £400 million.

Mrs Young described a £20m payout ordered at the High Court following a six-year legal battle as “a disgrace”, insisting her husband was worth “billions” and had hidden his money in offshore accounts.

The inquest also heard that Mr Young told his former model girlfriend Noelle Reno that he was going to jump out of the window moments before he was found impaled on the railings.

The businessman sent a text message to Ms Reno saying he had “hit rock bottom”, and told her on the phone: “I’m going to jump out of the window. Stay on the phone, you will hear me.”

She told the court: “He was desperate, more than I have ever seen him. Desperate in a different kind of way, he was completely sober.

“I think he was upset about many, many things.”

The cause of death was “multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height”.