A CORONER has recorded a verdict of suicide at an inquest into the death of a 78-year-old Wellington man who was missing for five months.

Paul Hyam, who lived at Pyles Thorne Close, disappeared on August 26, 2016. He was described at the inquest as an ‘old-fashioned gentleman’ by his family.

His disappearance prompted a search by scores of police which went on for weeks. It was concentrated early on in the Ford Street area and dozens of farm outbuildings were searched.

Efforts to find him were wound down, although it was widened to a larger area when police could not find him.

Mr Hyam was a retired prison officer and a talented musician who once appeared on ‘Blue Peter’, the inquest at the Old Municipal Buildings in Taunton was told.

His body was discovered in a wooded area near Wellington Monument on February 7 of this year.

He was described as a talented man who played the piano, guitar and ukelele.

His sister Juliet Nicholas-Hope said: “He was a hands-on family man. He could be the epitome of kindness and patience, and he could be impulsive.

“He always wanted to achieve everything. He learned to play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, the whole thing, without a manuscript on piano, which was incredible.”

The inquest was told that Mr Hyman was found hanged.