Mystery death of man whose badly decomposed body was found on Wilverley Common in the New Forest

MYSTERY surrounds the death of a 40-year-old man whose badly decomposed body was found by a dog walker at Wilverley Inclosure two years ago.

An inquest at Winchester Coroner’s court heard how Matthew Sheppard was travelling on a train to Southampton airport where he was due to catch a flight to Guernsey to visit a former boyfriend on 1st June 2022.

But for “reasons unknown” he got off at Brockenhurst station instead and was caught on CCTV “making his way to Wilverley [Inclosure] in Burley Road.

Around four months later on 22nd October his body was discovered after two dogs being walked on the common became interested in something in the bushes. When their owner went to investigate, he saw “what looked like a decomposing human skull”.

Tests revealed that it was Matthew – known to his family as Matt. But a post-mortem could not ascertain how he had died or when.

Mr Sheppard, who was living in Yeovil at the time of his death, had a history of depression, obsessive compulsion disorder and anxiety. He had made several attempts to take his own life including trying to drown himself. On another occasion he threatened to throw himself off a cliff.

His parents told area coroner Jason Pegg they had tried to help their “troubled” son with financial and emotional support. His father said that Mr Sheppard had phoned him when he was on top of the cliff to say he was going to commit suicide.

He said: “I told him ‘Come on, you’ve got to stop this and go back to the doctors’.”

Mr Sheppard said that shortly before his son had died, they had given him £5,000 to “set him up in a flat.” But just a while later he had asked for more money which his parents had refused to give him.

The inquest heard that Mr Sheppard was found lying face-down dressed in a “smart” purple shirt, black trousers and lying on a pin-striped jacket. He had £240 in cash on him, and bank cards,

There was a backpack near to his body along with a jug and spoon, and a plastic bag containing rainwater which had been tied shut. The clothes he was found in were the same as he was wearing when he left the train in June.

Summing up, Mr Pegg said that in his younger days Mr Sheppard had been “doing well at school” but when he became a teenager he “took a turn for the worse and never recovered from it”.

His parents, the coroner added, had been “extremely supportive” of their son but he had been “gripped by drink.” He said that as his body was so badly decomposed “no cause of death” could be ascertained.

Recording an open verdict, Mr Pegg said that Mr Sheppard could have committed suicide, or he could have suffered an accident.

Offering his condolences to the Mr Sheppard’s parents, he added: “It is quite clear to me you did the best for him.” To which his mum said sadly: “It just didn’t work.”