A man killed his wife and two kids before jumping to his death from a cliff in Anglesey, an inquest has heard.

Paul Newman, 42, hit Geraldine Newman over the head with a hammer before stabbing 11-year-old Shannon and six-year-old Shane at their home in Allerton Bywater in West Yorkshire in 2016.

He then travelled to South Stack in Holyhead and jumped 240ft to his death - near the spot where he had proposed to his wife 17 years earlier.

He was found dead less than a mile from the home of his wife's parents.

After killing his family, Newman left his children underneath a duvet, with religious artifacts placed on top of them.

An inquest into the deaths at Wakefield Coroner's Court heard that the couple had reunited after Newman served a jail sentence for a two-day assault on his wife in 2013.

Geraldine Newman with daughter Shannon Newman
Geraldine Newman with daughter Shannon

But the marriage was said to be "deteriorating" at the time of the incident in February 2016, and Mrs Newman had sent a text message to a family member in the weeks leading up to her death saying that she was "terrified" of her husband.

Newman's sister Rita Farley told the inquest that her brother was not a violent man until he saw text messages from other men on his wife's phone.

The inquest heard that, at the time of his death, Newman was due to begin therapy and counselling for anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder and was on medication for back pain, which he felt was altering his behaviour.

"He was not a nasty, violent man," Mrs Farley said.

"I'd never known that man to have an argument with anyone. He was such a kind, caring, loving man."

Shannon and Shane Newman
Shannon and Shane Newman

The inquest was told there was no evidence that Mrs Newman, 51, had carried out a physical affair.

Richard Smith, who was a detective sergeant with West Yorkshire Police at the time, said Mrs Newman and her children were found dead in their home on February 2, 2016.

He said: "At the scene of the family home, the body of Geraldine Newman was found in the living room downstairs. She was laid on the sofa with a duvet or blanket covering her.

"(The children) were found in the bedroom. They were covered with a duvet. They had been stabbed several times. On top of the duvet was a toy, a tiger, a statue of Jesus and two crosses."

Police and forensic officers at the scene in Beeston Way, Allerton Bywater near Leeds
Police and forensic officers in Allerton Bywater

Coroner Kevin McLoughlin told the inquest that the family were Catholic and that rosary beads were also found on the children's bed.

A hammer was found next to Mrs Newman on the sofa and knives were found on a bed post and under the bed in the children's room.

Mrs Newman had suffered at least three blows to her head with the hammer, while the children had multiple stab wounds to their necks and chests.

Shane was found to have defence injuries on his right hand.

Paul Newman's body was found at South Stack
Paul Newman's body was found at South Stack

The inquest heard that Newman had left a three-page letter in the kitchen in which he used the expression "I'm sorry" but did not admit that he had killed his family.

Mr McLoughlin said: "The nature of the document is saying how much he treasured his children."

After killing his family, Newman travelled to Holyhead.

His body was later found at the foot of South Stack cliff, where Mrs Farley said her brother had proposed to Mrs Newman on Christmas Day 17 years previously.

Paul Johnston, a retired detective chief superintendent who carried out a review into the 25 agencies who had involvement with the family in the years before their deaths, said what happened could not have been foreseen by "friends, family or professionals".

Mr McLoughlin concluded that Mrs Newman, Shannon and Shane were unlawfully killed and Newman took his own life.

The coroner, who described the deaths as an "enormous tragedy", urged anyone having suicidal thoughts to seek help.

He said: "One can only lament that, had he voiced the demons in his mind, that might have precipitated some change."

Mr McLoughlin added in his conclusion: "No one foresaw what was to happen. There were no explicit threats that would have enabled someone to intervene to prevent this tragedy.

"We can see a relatively isolated gentleman, with some propensity to compulsive behaviour, being overwhelmed by a situation that was likely to deprive him of his children, who were so fundamentally important to him.

"Anyone probing dark thoughts or feeling overwhelmed should tell someone about the problem and seek help."

Helplines and websites

Freephone 24 hour National Domestic Violence Helpline 0808 2000 247.

Samaritans (116 123) samaritans.org operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org , write to Freepost RSRB-KKBY-CYJK, PO Box 9090, STIRLING, FK8 2SA and visit www.samaritans.org/branches to find your nearest branch.

CALM (0800 58 58 58) thecalmzone.net has a helpline is for men who are down or have hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support. They're open 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year.

Help after rape or sexual assault can be found via the NHS website here or call the Rape Crisis national freephone helpline on 0808 802 9999 (12 to 2.30pm and 7 to 9.30pm every day of the year)

Childline (0800 1111 ) runs a helpline for children and young people in the UK. Calls are free and the number won’t show up on your phone bill.
PAPYRUS (0800 068 41 41) is a voluntary organisation supporting teenagers and young adults who are feeling suicidal.


Depression Alliance is a charity for people with depression. It doesn’t have a helpline, but offers a wide range of useful resources and links to other relevant information depressionalliance.org


Students Against Depression is a website for students who are depressed, have a low mood or are having suicidal thoughts. Bullying UK is a website for both children and adults affected by bullying studentsagainstdepression.org


The Sanctuary (0300 003 7029 ) helps people who are struggling to cope - experiencing depression, anxiety, panic attacks or in crisis. You can call them between 8pm and 6am every night. There are other depression charities.

Mental Health Helpline for Wales Provides a Wales wide 24/7 mental health multi-channel contact service.

CALL offers emotional support, signposting to agencies relevant to the caller’s needs as well as free literature. 0800 132 737 Text the word Help to 81066 www.callhelpline.org.uk

Wales Drug & Alcohol Helpline provides a Wales wide 24/7 drug and alcohol multi-channel contact service.

DAN offers emotional support, signposting to agencies relevant to the caller’s needs as well as free literature.

Call 0808 808 2234 Text the word DAN to 81066, or visit www.dan247.org.uk.

Wales Dementia Helpline Providing the same access to support, agency signposting and literature as the other helplines. Tel 0808 808 2235 Text Help to 81066 or visit www.dementiahelpline.org.uk.