The ex-wife of a Royal Navy sailor who took his own life aboard a warship has criticised the service for allowing him back on duty while he was suffering from depression and awaiting trial on a sexual assault charge. Verity Wyng said her former husband, Petty Officer Jon Errington Paxton, 38, should have been removed from the ship pending the case against him, and questioned why keys to a weapons locker were left accessible, allowing him to take a rifle and shoot himself while HMS Cattistock was docked in Portsmouth in April 2023.

An inquest at Portsmouth Coroner's Court recorded a verdict of suicide, hearing that Paxton was struggling with £25,000 of debt, had been arrested over a sexual assault allegation he denied, and had seen his divorce from Ms Wyng finalised just two weeks before his death. Ms Wyng said he had previously been medically downgraded over his mental health and criticised the brief, under-one-hour inquest for failing to address her concerns or recommend safeguards, noting his death came 12 years after another sailor killed himself on the same vessel.