E-bike appeal after man's death on school grounds

Police investigating the unexplained death of a man found fatally injured on school grounds said they wanted to trace an e-bike he was riding hours before.

Neil Thompson, known to friends and family as Chuck, was pronounced dead at Smestow Academy in Wolverhampton on 19 January.

Detectives believe he had been riding from the Aldersley area along the Smestow Canal path, on the outskirts of the city. He was last seen on Wheatsheaf Road at 01:00 GMT.

"The information we have does point, at this stage, to this as being an accident," Det Insp Joe Davenport said. "However we want to be able to further establish this by locating the e-bike he had been seen riding in the hours before he died."

Officers were continuing to treat the death as unexplained while they try to find answers for Thompson's family, he added.

"Thorough searches of the surrounding area and a significant CCTV trawl have as yet been unable to pinpoint what happened to that bike and we're appealing for anyone who has found a bike to contact us," Davenport said.

"We would ask anyone who has any information about it to come forward and help us bring this investigation to a conclusion and bring some answers for Mr Thompson's family."

The 45-year-old's family described him as "a beautiful son, brother, father... and very much loved in the community of fishing".

He was last seen wearing a distinctive camouflage jacket, grey gilet, jeans, and a beanie hat, police said.

He was also carrying a red rucksack and might have been wearing sunglasses.

The e-bike is described as a Carrera Crossfire E Men's Electric Hybrid Bike 2.0 - L Frame.

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