The company secretary of BMW and Mini dealership Specialist Cars in Stevenage who was accused of stealing almost £1.5m from the business, threw himself under a train, an inquest has heard.

Henry Yearley, 62, and his wife Anne, 56, were killed by a London to Peterborough express at Arlesey station, Bedfordshire, in June. Before recording a verdict of suicide, the inquest was told that Yearley had been due to appear in court five days later, charged with theft and false accounting.

During the previous four years, Yearley allegedly stole £1.48m from his employer in order to pay for his wife’s racehorses, which were in training at Newmarket.

Financial investigator Brian Rabbitt, of Hertfordshire Police, told the hearing that Yearley was arrested in January, and had admitted taking up to £15,000 from company accounts each month for four years, as well as stealing cash sums of up to £50,000. His wife was also arrested for theft and money laundering.