Impaled Scots tycoon death ‘cannot be ruled a suicide’

Scot Young, the Dundee-born property tycoon who was found last year impaled on railings outside his London penthouse cannot have his death ruled as a suicide, a coroner has decided.

An inquest into the death of Mr Young, 52, who died at Montague Square, Marylebone, on 8 December 2014, found that he had been treated for bipolar disorder and drug abuse and was under “huge stress”.

However, coroner Shirley Radcliffe said there was “inconclusive evidence to determine his state of mind” at the time of his death.

Recording a narrative verdict, Ms Radcliffe said: “I have concluded that there is inconclusive evidence to determine his state of mind and intention when he came out of the window.”

She added: “I think the police are entirely correct in that there is no suspicious circumstances.”

She continued: “On December 8, 2014, Mr Young fell to his death from a fourth floor window of his flat in Montagu Square, London.

“He had been discharged that afternoon from a psychiatric inpatient unit following an episode of drug-induced psychosis on a background of bipolar affective disorder.

“He was not considered a risk to himself nor did he have any significant history of deliberate self-harm.”

Mr Young was raised in the Stobswell area of Dundee before making his fortune as a property developer.

There had been speculation in the media that his death could have been the result of Russian criminal gangs, but the court earlier heard that police were treating the death as non-suspicious.

In a statement read to Westminster Coroner’s Court, Mr Young’s doctor said he had been treated for bipolar affective disorder and cocaine, cannabis and alcohol abuse since 2011.

She said: “He reported being under huge stress due to his bankruptcy and high-profile divorce.”

Mr Young was jailed for six months for contempt of court during his divorce from former partner Michelle, who accused him of hiding assets worth £400m.

Mrs Young described a £20m payout ordered at the High Court following a six-year legal battle as “a disgrace”, insisting her husband was worth “billions” and had hidden his money in offshore accounts.

The inquest also heard that Mr Young told his former model girlfriend Noelle Reno that he was going to jump out of the window moments before he was found impaled on the railings.

The businessman sent a text message to Ms Reno saying he had “hit rock bottom”, and told her on the phone: “I’m going to jump out of the window. Stay on the phone, you will hear me.”

She told the court: “He was desperate, more than I have ever seen him. Desperate in a different kind of way, he was completely sober.

“I think he was upset about many, many things.”

Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Shirley Radcliffe said: “I have concluded that there is inconclusive evidence to determine his state of mind and intention when he came out of the window.”