A DETECTIVE Sergeant said he hoped a family of a man declared missing eight years ago would have “some closure” after a jury ruled he died at work.

The inquest into the disappearance of New Zealander Lee Sheppard came to a close yesterday as the nine-strong jury reached the verdict he died in an industrial accident at European Metal Recycling (EMR) in Willesden.

Over three weeks the jurors at North London Coroner’s Court heard how Mr Sheppard vanished on January 31, 2003, while working a night shift at the refrigerator recycling plant.

Mr Sheppard, who would have turned 34 last month and his wife, Juliet Sheppard, 31 came to England in April 2002 as part of a working holiday.

The couple lived in Essex before moving to Cricklewood where Mrs Sheppard found out she was pregnant just days before her husband’s disappearance.

She told the court she last saw Mr Sheppard when he left for work the night he went missing.

Recalling her husband phoning her at around midnight whilst at work, Mrs Sheppard said: “I just remember his last words were ‘looking forward to seeing you. I love you babe. Bye’.”

A high risk missing person enquiry failed to find any trace of Mr Sheppard or an explanation as to how he had gone missing.

Mrs Sheppard returned to New Zealand towards the end of May 2003 and had their son, Jaden in September that year.

The court had also heard from Mr Sheppard’s colleagues at EMR who had described him as a “good worker” who was “highly regarded on site”.

Terry McCartney was employed as a project manager at the plant in 2002 and had told the court Mr Sheppard had asked for a reduction in the hours he worked because he “wanted to spend more time with his wife and family”.

Despite having initially been told his request could not be met, on the evening of January 30, 2003 Mr McCartney phoned Mr Sheppard to tell him “all was not lost”.

He said Mr Sheppard should speak with one of EMR’s department managers before he left work the following morning.

In a statement taken on February 19 2003, Mr McCartney said: “Lee seemed perfectly happy and he seemed relaxed.”

However, on the morning of January 31, 2003 he received phone calls saying Mr Sheppard had not worked his night shift.

The court heard how colleagues working the same shift had said at around 2.10am in the plant’s canteen Mr Sheppard had mentioned wanting to go home and see his wife.

In a statement taken in 2003 Mr McCartney said the men claimed to have last seen Mr Sheppard at around 2am that night and no one had seen him since.

He said following a search of the EMR site Mr Sheppard was not located but his bag was found.

The large bags of non-recyclable debris collected from the site had also been searched.

After considering all the evidence heard over the three weeks the jury gave the verdict Mr Sheppard died of “asphyxiation” inside either a conveyor or QZ, part of the plant’s machinery used to crush refrigerators during a recycling process.

The jury ruled Mr Sheppard died in the accident due to lack of oxygen between 2.30am and 9.15am on January 31, 2003.

DS Goodwin who started reinvestigating the case in 2006 said: “I hope that the conclusion of this inquest allows the family some closure and to move on and begin to remember their much loved husband, son and brother.”