A WIDNES man who was due to appear at court on charges of sexually abusing underage girls has been found dead after taking his own life at a caravan park in Wales.
The body of Paul Smith, a 30-year-old resident of Widnes, was discovered by police at a caravan park in Church Stoke on the Powys/Shropshire border, at 8.15pm on Monday evening.
Smith had been due at Warrington Crown Court that morning to face trial on numerous charges relating to sexual abuse of two teenage girls.
Police were alerted when Smith failed to appear at Crown Court.
A Powys Constabulary spokesman said the death was not being treated as suspicious.
Unemployed Smith had been on bail and staying at his parents' home in Shropshire since June, when he was first arrested.
A post mortem examination has been carried out but Powys police would not release the cause of death.
Smith had not been found guilty of any offence at the time of his death.
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