A policewoman committed suicide after writing a
text to a male colleague thanking him for a
'wonderful' date - but accidentally sent it to her
husband, an inquest heard.
PC Gail Crocker, 46, met a fellow officer while
her husband Peter, 49, was away from their
home near St Austell, Cornwall, on a business
trip in London.
Later that evening the mother of two typed a
message on her mobile saying: 'Thank you for a
wonderful evening. Only wish we could do this
more often'.
But Mrs Crocker sent it to her husband of 30
years by mistake, an inquest in Truro was told.
He came home and she admitted to having a
'one-off' rendezvous with a male colleague but
insisted it had never happened before.
The couple rowed, and the next day Mrs Crocker
called in sick from work and drove to a lane two-
and-a-half miles away from her home in the
village of St Stephen. She took an overdose and
was later found dead in her car.
Mr Crocker, of St Stephen, Cornwall, told the
inquest his wife had begged him for forgiveness
when he got back from his trip.
He said: 'I got out [of the car] and she was in
floods of tears saying she was sorry. She told
me it was a one-off and she had never done it
before.
Mr Crocker told the hearing they rowed the
following morning, saying: 'She went on and on
again. My work phone rang. I was so angry I
slammed it into the ground.
Gail Crocker, 46, committed suicide after sending
a text meant for a man she had dated to her
husband
After going to the supermarket to buy a
replacement phone, Mr Crocker arrived home
later that day to find his wife and her car had
gone.
Mr Crocker contacted her sergeant at Bodmin
Police Station who told him she had called in
sick for her shift that afternoon.
He said: 'I didn't sleep at all. I didn't hear from
Gail during the night.'
The following morning David Rendell and his
wife, close friends of the Crockers, spotted Mrs
Crocker's car in the car park at Lanjeth, a
nearby village, and called her husband.
Mr Crocker discovered his wife's body in the
boot next to an empty bottle of tablets, which
the pathologist said caused her death, and
suicide notes written to him and daughters
Chloe, 22 and Gemma, 25.
Mrs Crocker, who met her husband in Plymouth
when she was 15 and he was 17, first trained as
a PCSO in Truro in 2003 and became a police
constable in 2007.
Mr Crocker added in his statement: 'She was a
people person - she would speak to anyone
about anything. Being a PCSO was her perfect
job.
'She was my life. We had plans. Nothing was
worth her taking her life. I'm lost without her.'
- Paul Crocker, 49
'She was my life. We had plans. Nothing was
worth her taking her life. I'm lost without her.'
The unnamed colleague with whom Mrs Crocker
spent the evening was not required to give
evidence or named at the inquest.
Returning a verdict of suicide, Coroner for
Cornwall Emma Carlyon told the hearing she was
satisfied that Mrs Crocker's death resulted from
a deliberate act to take her own life.
At the time of her death colleagues paid tribute
to the 'excellent' police officer who was based in
Truro and later Bodmin.
Sector inspector Robin Hogg said: 'I have known
Gail for several years and will always remember
her as an excellent officer with a bright, happy
and positive disposition.'
'Gail leaves a husband and two daughters who
miss her deeply and are very proud of the role
she carried out in the community.'
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