Ananova:

The mystery surrounding the death of a judge killed in a fireball in the grounds of his country home may never be solved after a second inquest failed to reach a definitive conclusion.

Andrew Chubb, 58, perished in a blaze at his farmhouse near Chard, Somerset, just over an hour after telling his wife, Jennifer, 60, he was ending their 34-year marriage.

But at the end of a second inquest, held after years of campaigning by his mistress Kerry Sparrow, a coroner said the cause of the fire remained "unascertained".

Coroner Sheriff Payne said there was not enough evidence to prove it had been an accident or suicide.

But he stressed he was satisfied there was no third party involved in his death.

The coroner said: "It has not been possible to determine whether he was disabled from escaping by the effects of the products of combustion or any other means.

"Both the means and the cause of his death remain unascertained.

"Evidence that might indicate that he had expressed thoughts of harming himself fall far below proof beyond doubt that is the standard request for the conclusion that he deliberately took his own life."

In recording his narrative verdict, Mr Payne said it was a mystery why Judge Chubb had closed the doors to the shed and why he had not tried to escape from the fire.