Retired SAS hero and Everest adventurer ‘crushed himself to death’ under a three-tonne tipper truck
Guy Homan had served in the elite fighting force with an inquest held into his death on July 4
A WIDOW has spoken of her devastation after finding her husband, a retired SAS hero and Everest mountaineer, crushed to death under a three-tonne tipper trailer.
But while an inquest into Guy Homan's death heard the 53-year-old had deliberately crushed himself, his grieving wife said she believed his death was a "moment of utter madness".
The coroner has now recorded an open verdict into Homan's death, with the dedicated father's body having been found at an industrial unit on the Four Seasons Business Park in Tillington, Hereford on July 4.
His wife Holly said: "He was a devoted father and husband. We had planned the holiday of a lifetime to the Shetland Islands.
"I believe it was a moment of utter madness and entirely unplanned."
She said her husband had been considering an opportunity to return to the army as a welfare officer as well as looking forwards to a dream holiday.
She said: "There was no decision made by him.
"There were a lot of factors to take into account and he was weighing up having a mortgage to pay and three children to support.
"He was very passionate about the tree surgery business and felt he was responsible for providing for the family."
Holly told the inquest she had started to worry about her husband when she could not reach him, ringing him several times before finding him about 2pm.
The dad of three was freed from the heavy machinery but was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Police told the inquest that they believed Mr Homan -who took part in the famous SAS rescue of five British soldiers in Sierra Leone in 2000 - had intended to take his own life.
Detective Inspector Susan Clarke, of West Mercia Police, told his inquest it was a "deliberate act" as Mr Homan was within easy reach of a button to stop the tipper.
The hearing, held at Hereford Town Hall, also heard tape had been fixed on the controls to lower the Williams Tipper Trailer, which weighed 2.9 tonnes.
But Assistant Deputy Coroner for Herefordshire Mark Bricknell ruled out a verdict of suicide at the inquest on Monday.
He said: "I'm not quite sure he did intend to take his own life.
"I think he gave consideration to it and he had prepared for it but he was a knowledgeable man.
"He was clearly in a difficult place and people who give consideration to suicide don't always think rationally."
He was a devoted father and husband... I believe it was a moment of utter madness and entirely unplanned.
Holly
Homan had joined the army in 1983, starting out in the Parachute Regiment before joining the SAS.
He then served for the special forces in Iraq,Bosnia, Africa and Northern Ireland, taking part in the famous SAS rescue of five British soldiers being held hostage by militia in Sierra Leone in 2000.
The Royal Irish Regiment troops were captured by the notorious West Side Boys guerrillas in Gberi Bana.
Hewas also one of 21 army mountaineers who attempted to become the first Britons to scale Mount Everest via the treacherous West Ridge in 2006.
They managed to climb within a few hundred metres of the summit before adverse weather and the threat of avalanches put pay to the attempt.
Mr Homan left the Hereford regiment shortly after the expedition to work for a security company before starting his own tree surgeon business in 2013.
He lived with wife Holly, a veterinary nurse, who he had met while on an SAS tour of Northern Ireland in 1999.
They were married for 16 years and had two daughters, aged eight and nine, as well as a six-year-old son.
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