Monday, May 12, 2008
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LUCCOMBE DEAD MAN NAMED

By Jon Moreno - Friday, May 9, 2008
THE man found hanging in woods at Luccombe yesterday afternoon (Thursday) was James Thomas Hayward, 21, of Shanklin.
Coastguards, cliff rescue teams and emergency services were called to a wooded area near Smugglers Haven, Luccombe Chine, at around 2pm.
The body was found about 30ft above the beach by a man walking along the coastal trail between Shanklin and Ventnor yesterday afternoon. He used his mobile phone to raise the alarm.
IW Coastguard’s sector manager Mike Forsythe-Caffrey said the operation to retrieve his body was a dangerous and tricky one, because police and members of the Ventnor Coastguard Rescue Team had to negotiate rough terrain and boggy ground.
“There are 200ft of steps from lower Luccombe village down to the beach and it looks like the man had traversed across open ground above the final set of cliffs, probably in the early hours of the morning, though we are not sure.
“Because the tide was in, the helicopter could not be used, so it took six policemen and seven rescuers an hour to take him to a waiting ambulance.“
The death is not being treated as suspicious, say police.
An inquest into Mr Hayward’s death will open on Tuesday.