An inquest into the death of a man whose body lay in a field for six years after he went missing following a night out in Norwich has heard details of his last known movements.

Nigel Kedar had travelled to Norwich from his home in Essex on April 2, 2017, to visit a friend and was last seen alive on CCTV outside Dickleburgh Post Office on April 4, at 9.25am.

He had been walking south from Norwich along the A140, apparently on his way home.

His disappearance sparked a major police search which failed to turn up any trace of him until June 2023, when two members of the public discovered his body in a field in Blue Horse Lane, near Mendlesham, 10 miles south of Dickleburgh.

An inquest into his death at Suffolk Coroners' Court, in Ipswich, yesterday heard details of his movements in the days before he vanished.

The court was told that Mr Kedar, a father of one, had been spoken to by officers at Bethel Street police station in Norwich on April 3, 2017.

He appeared paranoid and confused and was not wearing any shoes or socks. He told officers that he had left his friend's home at 6.30 that morning, having become frightened that he was going to be “stitched up”.

Mr Kedar told officers that he had taken cocaine and amphetamines with a friend the previous night.

This was concerning to members of Mr Kedar’s family who were present in court. His former partner, Wendy Keogh, said that he had never taken drugs during the years she had known him and was “not a big drinker”.

Ms Keogh said that she had received a call from Mr Kedar that morning, which made her worried for his state of mind.

He repeatedly asked her to take care of their son, and sounded “confused and muddled up”.

Mr Kedar left the police station but returned a few hours later wearing a new pair of shoes and carrying a Sainsbury’s bag.

The officers said he did not appear to be drunk but still seemed anxious, saying he was not going to drive his car because he believed they were waiting to charge him with drink driving.

The officers told him that this was not the case, and suggested he go to the nearby library if he was looking for a quiet place to sit.

The next sighting of Mr Kedar, 52, was the CCTV footage in Dickleburgh, 17 miles from Norwich.

The court heard that his body is likely to have been in the field for some time, and when it was found by the land owner and a friend as they were clearing the land, they initially thought it was a coat.

Daniel Sharpstone, assistant coroner for Suffolk, explained that, owing to the lengthy period it took for Mr Kedar’s body to be discovered there was not enough evidence to establish a cause of death.

He therefore recorded an open conclusion.

Following the hearing, Ms Keogh paid tribute to her former partner and praised him as a father to their son, who was 14 when he disappeared.

 

"He was a very present father," she said. "He would come round to see him at least four times a week, if not seven.

"They were always together. Anyone who knew Nigel could see that our son was his life."