Speed's wife found his body, inquest told

London: The wife of Wales’ soccer manager Gary Speed found him hanging at their home early on Sunday morning, the inquest into his death heard on Tuesday.

Detective Inspector Peter Lawless, of Cheshire Police, told Cheshire coroner Nicholas Rheinberg that the 42-year-old’s body was found by his wife Louise just before 7 am. He said there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances and a post-mortem examination found Speed’s death had been caused by hanging.

Rheinberg opened and adjourned the inquest in Warrington, Chesire, until the full hearing on 30 January. There was a huge media presence at the inquest but members of Speed’s family did not attend. The coroner asked the media to respect the privacy of Speed’s family.

Earlier on Tuesday, Welsh Assembly Members observed a minute’s silence while flags continued to fly at half mast outside the Welsh Assembly buildings, UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, and FIFA House in Zurich.

The Premier League, in which Speed played 535 games, said a minute of applause would be held at every ground this weekend. “Gary will be remembered as an iconic player of the Premier League era,” a statement said.

Leeds United fans planned to sing the name of Speed for 11 minutes from the 11th minute of their Championship (second division) fixture at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday as a tribute to the player who wore the 11 shirt during Leeds’ English title campaign in 1991-92.

Thousands of supporters have left football shirts, scarves and flowers at the grounds where he played for Leeds, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United as well as the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium, where Wales have played their home games.

Reuters