Father drowned his two-year-old son, then killed himself

Arun Watkins' lifeless body was found floating, face-down, a short distance from the mouth of Littlehampton harbour, a few hours after he and his father, Alan, set out on an inflatable boat from the beach.

Mr Watkins' body was recovered from the sea two days later. It's thought he had thrown his son overboard and then jumped into the water himself.

The original inquest resulted in verdicts of accidental death, but at Worthing on Friday (October 3), West Sussex coroner Penelope Schofield held a second inquest following the discovery of fresh evidence.

Mrs Schofield was told that Mr Watkins had written a letter to his wife, Sheena, which was later found on a computer memory stick. He wrote in the letter: "While I know what I'm doing is wrong, it honestly byt sadly feels like the best option for Arun and me, and I have always said I would keep Arun's best interests at heart.

Son's "two very happy years"

"Me taking my life would have left Arun to face a very poor and disturbed life. I could not do that to him and there was no sign that you were willing to compromise for any other option.

"This way, we know he had two very happy years, and doesn't have to go through the torture and unhappiness of coming from a broken home."

Mr Watkins, 50, of south London, wrote the letter on June 1, 2007, nine days before he and Arun travelled to Littlehampton.

Mrs Schofield recorded verdicts of unlawful killing, for Arun, and suicide for Mr Watkins.

* For the full story, see this week's Littlehampton Gazette, on sale on Thursday.

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