A pub landlord who took his own life after stealing nearly £30,000 from his customers’ Christmas fund, told his partner to ‘be good, or I’ll come back and haunt you’, on the night he disappeared, an inquest heard today.
Malcolm Levesconte, 59, left the chilling message for his girlfriend after it was discovered the money from the savings club had gone missing.
Police believe he had been sieving money from the thrift club fund throughout the year to save his pub, the Royal Oak in Shrewton near Salisbury in Wiltshire.
He was then last seen on December 9 last year boarding a ferry from Portsmouth to France. His body was found in the sea off Dover, Kent, on Christmas Eve.
A coroner ruled he had taken his own life.
Mr Levesconte only disclosed the level of his debt in a series of notes discovered after his death was confirmed.
His partner, Janet Handsley, told police she had seen one of the notes the night before Mr Levesconte disappearance.
The note prompted Ms Handsley to contact her son, but she did not read further than the top line because she found it upsetting, the inquest in Salisbury heard.
Ms Handsley told the court she did not discuss the note with Mr Levesconte the next day, which was the last time she saw him, as he said he was leaving to speak to somebody who could resolve a financial issue.
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In a statement to police, she said: ‘About a month ago (before his disappearance) I noticed a change. He hadn’t been himself and couldn’t sleep properly.
‘On December 8 I found a letter in an envelope with my name on it. It upset me greatly so I didn’t read any more.
‘I didn’t discuss it with Malcolm. I last saw him at 5.30pm on December 9. He went out having said goodbye to me and that he loved me.
‘He said: "You’ll have to be good or I will come back and haunt you". At the time I didn’t think anything about it.'
Villagers' savings: Mr Levesconte took his own life after it was discovered that he had stolen nearly £30,000 from the 'thrift' fund at the Royal Oak pub in Shrewton, Wiltshire
Letters found after Mr Levesconte’s disappearance - in a bundle with his last will and testament - spoke about his debt to the thrift club and, according to coroner Dr Claire Balysz, ‘quite clearly expressing his intentions and the reason he chose to take the course of action’.
Wiltshire Police said they had been working on the theory that Mr Levesconte had been propping up his failing pub business with money from the fund.
Dr Balysz read evidence to the court stating how Mr Levesconte was a man with few friends, who worked every day in the pub and rarely had any time off.
His partner described how Mr Levesconte would put his own money into the pub, which was leased from Enterprise Inns.
She added: ‘When he makes up his mind about something, he keeps to it.’
The court heard Mr Levesconte had booked a ferry ticket to St Malo and had left the pub in Shrewton, three miles from Stonehenge, around 5.30pm the night he was last seen alive.
Mr Levesconte's body was found in the English Channel on Christmas Eve four miles from the port of Dover (pictured)
Having told his regulars to ‘take care’, Mr Levesconte headed south to the ferry port at Portsmouth. CCTV confirmed he had arrived on the south coast and boarded a shuttle bus onto the ferry.
However, he did not arrive in France. His personal possessions were discovered in his cabin, and his lifeless body discovered two weeks later in the English Channel, having been spotted by someone on board a passing ferry.
The coroner said Mr Levesconte had drowned and had taken his own life.
The thrift fund had been set up by Mr Levesconte with around 60 local families paying into it throughout the year.
The landlord had promised to pay the money into a savings account to be paid out to his partaking punters before Christmas.
The families feared a grim holiday season, with one family having saved around £7,000 with the scheme, but thanks to anonymous donations from around the globe, festivities could be saved.
It took just four days to replace the missing £30,000 thanks to one anonymous donation of £10,000 and hundreds of smaller contributions from as far afield as South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Australia and the United States.
The pub has not reopened.