'Closure' for Madoff victim's son

Major Bill Foxton shot himself in a Southampton park in February

The son of a man who shot himself after losing his life savings in the Bernard Madoff fraud has said he is "very glad" about the US financier's jail term.

Bernard Madoff, 71, was jailed for 150 years at a New York court for the $65bn (£40bn) investment fraud.

Retired British Army major Bill Foxton, 65, shot himself in the head in a park in Southampton in February.

His son Willard, 28, said any verdict that had resulted in Madoff dying in prison would have given him closure.

Bill Foxton had placed nearly £1m in two hedge funds, which in turn had invested the money with Madoff.

He was unaware he was a Madoff investor until the Austrian bank in which he deposited his money stopped returning his calls, his son said.

Willard Foxton sought answers over his father's death in the US

He left suicide notes referring to his losses.

Willard Foxton told BBC News: "My initial reaction is I'm very, very glad because I think if anyone was going to get the full sentence for this, then Bernard Madoff deserved it.

"It was a much more serious crime than either something like Worldcom or Enron, where the main perpetrators received 20-year sentences.

"I'm very glad to see that the justice system in the US has produced the verdict people wanted.

"I think the right decision was made, although to be honest with you, any sentence that ensured [Madoff] died in prison probably would have given me the closure I wanted."

He said his father's suicide was "absolutely devastating" for his family.

Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years at a New York court on Monday

Madoff was jailed on Monday after admitting 11 charges in March, including securities fraud and money laundering.

On Sunday evening, a BBC documentary was aired that followed Willard Foxton as he sought answers over his father's death, by travelling across the US to try to unravel how Madoff fooled so many people, for so long.

He said he originally took the trip because he wanted to take his father's gallantry medals and "throw then into Bernie Madoff's face, to make Madoff know the sort of man he killed".

Earlier this month, the Southampton coroner Keith Wiseman recorded a verdict of suicide over Bill Foxton's death, describing what happened to him as "absolutely tragic".