Inquest hears how Keith Jerram's skull was recovered from the sea by fishermen

Keith Jerram had disappeared last March prompting a European-wide search.

The 38-year-old business analyst went to work at a software company as normal on the morning of March 17, after being dropped at Southampton Central railway station by his wife Lisa.

He did not turn up in the evening to be picked up as usual and Mrs Jerram reported him missing, the hearing was told.

Six months into the search, on September 9 last year, fishermen discovered a human skull in the middle of the North Sea.

It was taken to Dutch police and confirmed to be Mr Jerram by comparing dental records and DNA found on the toothbrush which was in his room on the ferry. No other remains were found.

The skull was flown back to the UK and was investigated by forensic pathologists who said that due to the time in water it was impossible to tell exactly when Mr Jerram died.

Detective Sergeant Frank Nelson, of Hampshire police, who spent months investigating the case, told the inquest in Winchester that police had tracked Mr Jerram’s movements using data from his mobile phone, bank accounts and CCTV.

He described how Mr Jerram had gone home during the day, collected a small suitcase of belongings, and then got a train to London Waterloo from Southampton.

Mr Jerram continued to Ipswich, where he booked into a Premier Inn hotel for two nights, went to the cinema to see Need For Speed and made several bank payments and withdrawals, the inquest heard.

He then took a Stena ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland late on March 18, and CCTV confirmed that one fewer person left the ferry than boarded, Det Sgt Nelson said.

Mr Jerram was last seen at 1.38am Dutch time at the on-board bar buying two cans of Heineken.

Det Sgt Nelson said there were no further bank transactions, phone movements or contact after that time.

Mr Jerram’s belongings were found in his room on the ferry, along with a note which read: “In the event of my death I bequeath everything to my wife.”

‘Jumped’ It was likely he jumped into the water about halfway through the trip, Det Sgt Nelson added.

Mr Jerram’s widow told the inquest that there was nothing to suggest why he would commit suicide and it was “massively out of character”.

The inquest heard that the couple, of Ferndale Road in Marchwood, had been married since 2009 after meeting in a Southampton nightclub and 18 months before his disappearance they had a still-born child.

They had discussed trying for another baby and Mr Jerram recently received a promotion at Portsmouth-based software company Dunstan Thomas.

Police also looked through Mr Jerram’s work computer and found he had a French Facebook account and had been looking at tablets and mobile phones which could be used abroad.

Det Sgt Nelson said at that time police thought he may have wanted to disappear.

However, through the International Liaison Enquiry, Dutch police and UK forces Mr Jerram’s name was ‘flagged’ across Europe.

Senior coroner for central Hampshire, Grahame Short, said it was an unusual case and recorded an open verdict.

“On the balance of probability I conclude that he either jumped or fell in the sea on the night of March 19 2014 and died shortly after,” he said.

“It’s very hard to think about but the reality of someone passing into the sea from a moving ferry could indicate the ferry passed over the body and could explain why his body was not intact when it was found.

“It’s a terrible situation for his widow to have found herself in.”