Judge who leapt 50ft to his death did commit suicide, rules coroner

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A crown Court judge plunged to his death from his bedroom window after becoming depressed while taking drugs for high blood pressure, an inquest heard.

Judge Rodney McKinnon, 64, had been prescribed beta-blocker type drugs in the months leading up to his suicide at a luxury Central London apartment block.

However, every one of the drugs he took produced side- effects which made him increasingly anxious and depressed, the inquest was told yesterday.

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Suicide: Judge Rodney McKinnon died after throwing himself from a window

In this state, he crawled over a writing desk and through a small window of his third-floor flat in Dolphin Square in Pimlico and fell 50ft.

The apartment block is popular with businessmen, celebrities and MPs and is the former home of Princess Anne.

Westminster Coroner's Court heard that Judge McKinnon, who earned £122,000 a year and was unmarried and lived alone, was off work ill and was considering retirement when he killed himself last June.

His GP Jonathan Hunt told the court that over the previous year the judge had taken a variety of drugs to fight high blood pressure.

However, they left him "washed-out" and unable to sleep or concentrate in court.

He also lost weight.

Yesterday, Judge McKinnon's brother Warwick - an Old Bailey judge - claimed the problems were brought on by the drugs he was taking.

"There wasn't an awful lot wrong with his blood pressure," he said.

Making history: Judge Rodney McKinnon (left) and his brother Warwick were the first brothers to be made judges on the same day

"It was slightly high. The depression and anxiety began when he started taking drugs."

Warwick McKinnon argued that his brother did not kill himself - despite the fact his body was discovered around 20ft from the building's edge, which indicated that he jumped rather than fell.

He said that his brother had a lot to live for and argued that, had he wanted to commit suicide, he would have left a note.

He said: "My brother was a very tidy and literary man and he would have wanted to have recorded the reason why he died. I don't believe it was suicide and neither does anyone in the family or any of his friends."

However, Westminster Coroner Dr Paul Knapman said that any attempt to explain the death as accidental was "fanciful".

He ruled that Judge McKinnon died of brain damage and multiple injuries and recorded a verdict of suicide, saying: "On the spur of the moment people can act illogically - but knowing the consequences.

"The balance of his mind was disturbed by reason of his depression and anxiety."

Rodney McKinnon grew up in Purley, South London, and attended King's College School in Wimbledon before going up to Christ's College, Cambridge.

In 1998, he and Warwick made legal history when they were sworn in as judges on the same day.

Their older brother Stuart is a High Court judge and their father Neil was also a judge.

A Prescription given to two miliion

Six million Britons are treated for high blood pressure - or hypertension - every year.

Around two million of them take beta-blockers.

These drugs work by preventing the effects of the naturally-occurring chemical noradrenaline, which narrows arteries and speeds up the heartbeat.

The most popular beta-blocker is atenolol, although bisoprolol, carvedilol and metoprolol are also popular.

It has long been recognised that taking them makes the patient up to 30 per cent more likely to develop diabetes.

However, they have also been associated with fatigue, loss of libido and impotence.

Last year, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ruled that patients taking beta-blockers should start to switch to less-harmful drugs.

High blood pressure is triggered by obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol and is linked to unhealthy lifstyles.

It can lead to heart disease and strokes.

 

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