No suspicion around death of rising star chef from Telford, inquest rules
There were no suspicious circumstances surrounded the death of a rising star chef from Telford, an inquest heard.
Luke Henderson, 27 and from Wellington, took his own life in the Norwegian capital Olso, where his body was found in his home on May 20 this year. He had recently opened his own restaurant in the city.
Recording a verdict of suicide at an inquest in Shrewsbury on Wednesday, Shropshire senior coroner John Ellery said he was satisfied that there were "no suspicious circumstances or reason to believe that a third party had been involved".
The brief hearing at Shirehall was held in the absence of witnesses.
Mr Ellery said that police in Oslo had found Mr Henderson's body and their investigation had concluded there were no suspicious circumstances.
The body of Mr Henderson was then conveyed to the UK where a consultant carried out another examination and came to the same conclusion as his Norwegian counterparts, the inquest heard.
"I am satisfied he did kill himself and I will suicide is the conclusion I will record," said Mr Ellery, who held the inquest to decide how Mr Henderson had died, and not why.
"The reason an inquest is held is because his body was brought back into the UK and his death was unnatural."
No family or friends of Mr Henderson were present at the inquest.
They set up a GoFundMe page to raise £10,000 to repatriate Luke's body from Oslo and received huge support from people in the food industry at home and across the world.
The fundraiser had reached more than £26,000 in just four days and garnered attention and donations from top chefs including Tom Kerridge.
Luke's family are hoping to use the rest of the funding to launch The Shining Star Foundation to support young chefs and their mental health.
Luke's father, Cliff Henderson, said at the time: "The tragedy of Luke needs to be heard. The culinary industry has lost another young chef.
"I would like the world to get behind this movement about looking after these boys and girls better. Mental health is so important. We need to help."
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