THE mysterious death of a man who plunged from a cliff in the West Indies may be referred back to police there following concerns voiced by a Daily Echo reader.

Poole-born Peter Beament died more than four years ago in Antigua.

Last week an inquest in Bournemouth heard Mr Beament's mother, Rosemary Beament, accuse her son's wife of involvement in his death.

After hearing all the evidence the district coroner, Sheriff Payne, recorded an open verdict.

Now after reading the Daily Echo report of the Bournemouth inquest a man has come forward to cast more doubt on the opinion of the authorities in Antigua that the death was the result of an accident or a suicide. An inquest in Antigua after the tragedy recorded a verdict of accidental death.

The man, who wants to be known only as Pete, was living in Antigua at the time of the tragedy in May 2001.

Pete told the Daily Echo how he had scrambled down cliffs to Mr Beament's car, which had a completely flattened roof. The body of Mr Beament, 35, was found next to the car.

"The whole thing has always stayed with me. It has never left me," said Pete. "As soon as I saw it I got this feeling that something terrible had taken place."

He claimed there was no attempt by the authorities in Antigua to establish what had happened and added: "The scene wasn't even taped off."

Information he sent to the Daily Echo has now been passed to the coroner for Bournemouth and East Dorset.

A spokesman for the coroner's office urged Pete to contact police in Antigua to voice his concerns.

"We have looked at the letter. It does reflect, in a general sense, the concerns of the coroner in that he recorded an open verdict," said the spokesman.

Addressing the Bournemouth inquest last week, Mr Beament's mother Rosemary, 59, of South Wales, said: "I know he didn't commit suicide."

In a statement Mr Beament's employer also said he was "far from suicidal" prior to his death.

Mr Beament, a butcher, had moved to Antigua in 1996 and married his wife, Roslyn, in 1999.

In a statement read out at the Bournemouth inquest, Roslyn Beament described how she became worried after she discovered her husband was missing.

She said she and her boyfriend and some others began to search the English Harbour resort and alerted police after spotting a red car at the bottom of cliffs known as Shirley Heights. It was her husband's and his body was found nearby.

Recording his open verdict Mr Payne said: "There are gaps in the evidence I am not happy about but sadly I do not have the power to fill those gaps."

First published: August 17, 2005