No charges due against Ecoisland director David Green

No criminal charges would have been brought against the director of the collapsed Ecoisland firm, who killed himself after being arrested.

David Green, 52, hanged himself at his home in Gurnard, Isle of Wight, on 7 October last year.

The Isle of Wight coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.

Mr Green was questioned on suspicion of fraud after £115,000 of government cash was unaccounted for after the collapse of the community interest company.

At the inquest in Newport, Hampshire Constabulary confirmed there would not have been any criminal charges brought against him.

Ecoisland was set up in 2012 with the goal of making the island energy self-sufficient while exporting excess energy to the mainland.

In the autumn of last year, the company went into voluntary liquidation blaming a lack of funding in a difficult economic climate.

Isle of Wight Council said at the time it had reviewed the delivery of the government's Green Deal grants on the island, and found approximately £115,000 of the £240,000 funding was unaccounted for.

The hearing heard that money had in fact gone into the running of the company and investigators found no evidence of fraud.

Hampshire Police confirmed that Mr Green was arrested on suspicion of fraud. A week later he took his own life.

Coroner Caroline Sumeray said the council released information about his arrest to the press prematurely. She asked the council to make a full investigation into how and why this happened.

She added she hoped Mr Green's name had now been cleared.

Following the hearing, a police spokesman said: "We can confirm an investigation into the Ecoisland company was completed in February 2014.

"Inquiries were made into information passed to police about missing public funds in October 2013.

"Following careful consideration of the information available to police during this investigation, Hampshire Constabulary has decided there is insufficient evidence to confirm that any criminal offences were committed."

He added: "No further suspects were identified and no further arrests were made."

Mr Green's death was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which returned it to the force's professional standards department.

It carried out a review which found "no misconduct and no disciplinary issues in the force's handling of this matter", the spokesman added.

Isle of Wight Council said that it "acknowledges the statement" from police in relation to the investigation and added "as the matter has now been concluded, [the council] feels it would be inappropriate to comment further".

The council extended "its sympathy and condolences to the family of Mr Green".