Police officer died of pneumonia

Pc Mulhall was found on Snowdon after he went missing from his home

A police officer cleared of wrongdoing in the arrest of a mother-of-one died of natural causes from pneumonia in Snowdonia, an inquest has ruled.

Pc Anthony Mulhall, 43, of South Yorkshire, died in hospital after he was found on Snowdon in July 2008.

But a north Wales inquest said he was not killed by the sleeping tablets he had consumed or the weather.

Pc Mulhall was reported missing from his home in Rotherham two days before his death.

He was removed from frontline duties in March 2007 after it emerged he hit 21-year-old Toni Comer in order to subdue her so she could be handcuffed.

In December 2007, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided he would not be charged over the incident.

An IPCC investigation found the assault allegations against Pc Mulhall were unsubstantiated and said he had used "justified and proportionate force" to arrest Ms Comer.

I was concerned that he was taking Nytol every night and it was not having an effect on his sleeping pattern Pc Mulhall's wife Letitia Mulhall

The inquest at Arfon Council Chamber in Caernarfon heard Pc Mulhall was found lying on the ground by a walker in the Nantmor area near Snowdon.

North west Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones he had "possibly" gone there to attempt suicide after taking six packets of Nytol sleeping tablets, which were found during a hospital search of his rucksack.

Three one-litre bottles of sloe gin, one of which was half-full, was also found inside the bag.

But Mr Pritchard Jones added that the question of the cause of his death was irrelevant as he died from natural causes.

Announcing the verdict he said: "It was the lobar pneumonia on its own that killed him and Nytol really had nothing to do with it. That is what eventually killed him.

"Had he been at home he would have probably felt the effects of the pneumonia developing and he would have probably sought medical help.

Assault claims over Toni Comer's arrest were unsubstanstiated

"Unfortunately, he was not at home. He was in Nantmor."

Pc Mulhall's wife, Letitia Mulhall, told the inquest her husband had started taking Nytol tablets in May after he had trouble sleeping.

Mrs Mulhall said: "I was concerned that he was taking Nytol every night and it was not having an effect on his sleeping pattern."

She explained how she had "noticed a change" in his behaviour but did not know the reason for his difficulty in sleeping or why he had become withdrawn and thought it may have been to do with his work.

'Withdrawn'

Speaking about her last phone conversation with her husband, she said: "He said he was going for a drive and think things through.

"He asked me if I wanted anything from the supermarket."

Speaking about the possibility that her husband deliberately took the tablets, Mrs Mulhall said: "He was a very proud individual.

"I would not imagine he would do something like that. But he was withdrawn."

Dr Mark Lord, who performed the post-mortem on Pc Mulhall told the inquest that he may not have been aware he had pneumonia before setting off to Snowdonia.

Speaking about how the Nytol may have affected Mr Mulhall, Dr Lord told the inquest: "The only complication is that he would have been less aware of his symptoms and the severity of them.

"The pneumonia would have proved fatal in any case."