No obvious cause of death for police chief

A post-mortem examination carried out on police chief Michael Todd on Wednesday has revealed no obvious cause of death, the coroner's office said.

The chief constable of Greater Manchester Police was found dead at the foot of a cliff in north Wales by rescue teams on Tuesday.

Todd, 50, married with three children, had spoken to colleagues about problems in his personal life in the days before his death, according to media reports.

But police denied reports that suicide notes had been found.

"We would like to clarify that, contrary to media reports, no notes were found at or near the scene where Chief Constable Michael Todd was found," said a statement from Greater Manchester Police.

North Wales Police said his death was not suspicious.

The coroner for North West Wales, Dewi Pritchard-Jones, said further tests would be carried out.

A pathologist's preliminary report will be made at the opening of the inquest into Todd's death on Thursday.

Officers launched a search after the police chief failed to return from a walk in the Welsh mountains on his day off on Monday.

Police said its officers and mountain rescue teams found a body near a remote mountain path at 1450 GMT on Tuesday as high winds and snow showers swept Snowdonia.

Manchester's Deputy Chief Constable Dave Whatton said news of Todd's death came as "a tragic shock".

"As you can imagine all of his friends and colleagues are extremely upset. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family," he said in a statement.

Colleagues and friends remembered Todd as a popular "coppers' copper" who liked to leave his office and go on patrol with junior officers.

A former assistant commissioner with the Metropolitan Police, he was one of Britain's most senior officers. He had been tipped as a possible successor to the current head of the Met, Sir Ian Blair.

Todd led an investigation into claims by human rights groups that British airports were used by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to move terrorism suspects to secret prisons. His inquiry found no evidence to support the allegations.

He helped police the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, the Notting Hill Carnival and the large May Day demonstrations in London. He made headlines in 2005 after volunteering to be shot with a 50,000-volt stun gun to show they were safe.

Paul Murphy, chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Authority, said: "He was an outstanding man and his death is a terrible loss."