Coroner appoints Police Enquiry team into the death of Chief Constable Michael Todd.

North Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones has appointed Det Insp Gerwyn Lloyd,to a member of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team work out when Michael Todd parked his Range Rover in the town of Llanberis, which route he took to get to the mountainside, when he arrived there and when he sent text messages to two women, which prompted the search for him.

The coroner will be trying to establish whether more could have been done to save Mr Todd who was found dead on the lower slopes of Mount Snowdon in North Wales.

Mr Pritchard-Jones said: "I am looking at what he did in the three to four days before he died. I will examine the text messages to see if they reveal any suicidal intentions or not.

"I have met with a team with specialist knowledge in mountaineering, including Inspector Lloyd, and members of the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team. They are putting together the chief constable's last movements.

"I have asked them to put together a timetable of where he was at certain times and where he was going and what he was doing, to try and find out why he died."

North Wales police Chief Supt Christopher Corcoran ( specialist on computer crime and Chair of the All Wales eCrime Steering Group see also and ***) who is leading the enquiry will scrutinize the communications between Greater Manchester Police and Welsh police and mountain rescue services.

The coroner has now obtained medical reports and established a cause of death. It is likely that a full inquest will be held in June.

Police are said initially to have identified the location of his mobile phone/Blackberry (it is claimed this was flawed information, but radio location in mountainous areas is notoriously unreliable) in an area close to the Menai Straits, near Port Dinorwic some 10 miles from where his dead body was found.

In the early hours of March 11 just three members of a mountain rescue team and a dog were dispatched to look in this area but had to postpone the search due to blizzard conditions.

Later that morning two hikers ( 1 male 1 female, names, origin, reason for being on mountain not known publicly ) found a rucksack containing Mr Todd's personal items. On contacting the police by a 999 call, they mysteriously and highly unusually despatched a helicopter to pick them up to brief the small rescue team (sworn to secrecy by the police) who helicoptered up to the site of the rucksack soon found Michael Todd's dead body at approximately 3.pm.

Several questions spring to mind.

1. Why not investigate Michael Todds actions / activities / contacts / movements for several weeks prior to driving (it is said) to North Wales on his own.

2. Use the Police national Number Plate recognition camera database to track the movement of his vehicle for the weekend and the trip to North wales.

3. Surely the possibility of foul play should be considered, if only to eliminate it - had Michael Todd upset a jealous husband or other relative / a boyfriend / girlfriend ? Had he upset the CIA/MI5/6/7/8/9 ?

Codshit has some rambling pieces with some nuggets of information to satisfy any conspiracy theorist.

**** Chief Supt Christopher Corcoran was involved in the arrest of John Damon Gizzi of Rhyl who went down for 5 1/2 years in January 2006. A notorious and violent criminal he was caught after his Bentley COntenental was bugged and CCTV surveillance cameras were used to track him and his gangster crew - he was said to have made £6,893,268 from his many and various crimes and the available recoverable assets were £2,618,874 which is still being collected.

There will be a memorial service at Manchester Cathedral next Friday April 11th when 1,000 police will attaend, plus (up to press Jacqui Smith who is described as the Home Secretary, and Gordon Brown described as Pime Minister) - his many and several girl friends will probably not be there.Lord Patel will be in the front pew snapping away.