The family of a man facing sex charges had been desperately trying to trace him for hours before he was found hanged in his loft.

Relatives of Bernard Saunders raised the alarm after he failed to turn up at Oxford Crown Court on Monday to face eight charges of indecent assault and one of indecency.

They made a number of attempts to find him during the day without success and finally called in police who found him dead at his home in Beagle Close, on the Peachcroft estate in Abingdon.

The family were concerned because Saunders had been depressed and was also on medication. He was last seen alive at 9am on Monday, eight hours before he was found dead.

Pc Roger Lakeman, of Abingdon police, said: "We were contacted by his wife who reported him as a missing person. He had apparently been depressed and her attempts to ring him had met no reply."

A warrant had been issued the same day for Saunders's arrest by Judge Anthony King after he failed to appear in court.

Saunders had been due to enter a plea to the judge on eight charges of indecent assault and one of indecency.

Two charges of indecently assaulting a girl under 13 related to a period between 1975 and 1977.

Another similar charge related to dates between 1975 and 1979, another between 1979 and 1981, and a fifth between 1980 and 1982.

Saunders had also been charged with three counts of indecently assaulting a woman.

He also faced a charge of indecency, involving a child aged under 14.

His case had been committed to the Crown Court by Abingdon magistrates on May 11.

Police said a note had been found at Saunders's home and a letter had been sent to one of the alleged victims before his death.

Mrs Saunders was believed to be staying with her parents yesterday (Tues, June 9). A friend of the family, who answered the door at their home in Beagle Close, said he did not wish to talk about what had happened.

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