Mystery surrounds judge's death

In life, there was little to mark out Judge Andrew Chubb.

The life of Judge Chubb

A well-respected and capable circuit judge, the 58-year-old lived quietly in a 19th Century farmhouse near Chard, Somerset, with his wife Jennifer.

Perhaps his only brush with fame was when he worked with the prosecution team at the trial of mass killer Rosemary West.

But under the surface, Mr Chubb had a secret - one that would prove central to the ensuing police investigations and two inquests into his death.

In 1999 the newly-appointed judge had met a legal officer called Kerry Sparrow and began an affair.

Two years later, he was killed in an explosion in a garden shed at his home - less than two hours after asking his wife of 34 years for a divorce.

An inquest in December 2001 ruled the death was accidental.

The coroner heard that lawnmowers had been kept in the shed, as well as petrol and separate fuel for a strimmer.

A spark from a lawnmower is thought to have ignited petrol, causing a fireball witnessed by Mrs Chubb.

But Ms Sparrow pushed for the next six years to bring about a fresh inquest - and demanded a "proper inquiry".

The story unfolded slowly as the wheels of justice, known to Mr Chubb so intimately, turned.

But events, when they came to the media's attention, would be dramatic.

Jennifer Chubb was arrested in 2002, with documents showing she was held on suspicion of murder and perjury in connection with her evidence to the original inquest.

No charges have ever been brought.

Reasons for second inquest

Indeed, the High Court, when deciding in 2006 whether to allow a second inquest, ruled out foul play, saying there was "not a shred of evidence" to support an unlawful killing verdict.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips and Mr Justice Roderick Evans, however, did accept that new evidence necessitated a fresh look at the case.

They said this lent "support to the possibility that [Mr Chubb] may have taken his own life" - a notion always rejected by his wife, Jennifer.

A coroner has now ruled the cause of death cannot be ascertained - but discounted any suggestion he was killed by his wife.