Tragedy as 'devoted' couple jump off cliff holding hands and leave heartbreaking note

A devoted husband and wife stepped off 180-foot cliffs hand-in-hand and fell to their deaths after cancer took a devastating toll on their lives. David, 80, and Susan Jeffcock, 74, from beautiful Whitby in North Yorkshire, had left a note for their solicitor before their death.

Family said David had been battling bone cancer and was worn down by the relentless pain it caused - and his wife of 52 years simply couldn't bear life without him. In the note they left for their solicitor, David apologised for any shock their deaths might cause, but added at the end of the heartbreaking letter - "Susan wants to come with me".

David's nephew Kevin Shepherd, 66,told the Daily Mail the pair had "complete devotion to each other".

He had witnessed his uncle, a retired taxi and bus driver, transform from the jovial and sociable man he once was to someone who was introverted and grappling with everyday life. The couple didn't have children, so the responsibility of his daily care fell solely on Susan, who could only watch helplessly as his condition deteriorated over time.

Eventually, David's pain became unbearable.

Kevin, a funeral celebrant from Rotherham, told the Mail: "It is extremely sad to think of them in that position. The last time I saw them, my Uncle David really wasn't himself. He was withdrawn and clearly struggling with the pain brought about by the bone cancer."

David, originally from Sheffield, penned a letter to his solicitor and on their last day, he personally delivered it to the Whitby firm, slipping it through the letterbox.

David, who was a Sheffield native, and in his later years working for the council ferrying around children to special needs schools, lived there for most of his life except for a three-year period spent in Australia. He was one of the UK's '£10 poms' who emigrated to Australia under the government's Assisted Passage Scheme to work as a postman but later returned to Sheffield

He met Susan around 1970 after she relocated to Sheffield from her hometown of Hemsworth. They settled down in Whitby in their 60s for a peaceful life

Kevin added: "They loved the place. It boasted a fantastic view across the harbour and out to sea, and they truly felt content there. They strongly felt that Whitby was home. I recall my Uncle David mentioning how you could enter an empty pub, settle down with a drink, and within minutes it would be bustling with people dressed as pirates."

An inquest into David and Susan's deaths will be resumed by the North Yorkshire coroner next year. The inquest, opening in Northallerton on Monday, revealed that their cause of death was 'multi-trauma', according to a pathologist.

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