A RETIRED doctor killed himself three days after Christmas on the M5 motorway near Wellington, an inquest heard on Wednesday (September 27).

Fifty-nine-year-old Clevedon-born GP Stephen Brain suffered multiple traumatic injuries and died at the scene on December 28.

The incident happened shortly before 8 am and caused police to close the motorway for several hours.

Dr Brain, who lived in Taunton and was said to have been suffering mental health issues, had visited his parents at Christmas but they had not noticed anything unusual with him.

Senior Somerset Coroner Samantha Marsh was told Dr Brain ‘deliberately left’ the motorway’s Honiton Road overbridge and fell onto the carriageway between junction 26 for Wellington and junction 27 for Taunton.

Mrs Marsh said: “He sustained injuries from the fall and was instantly hit by two vehicles who could not have avoided the collision.

“Stephen died at the scene of multiple skeletal and traumatic brain injuries sustained as a result of the fall and/or collisions.”

Mrs Marsh, sitting in the Old Municipal Buildings, Taunton, recorded a conclusion of ‘suicide’.