Ex-music teacher kills himself as US police try to make sex abuse charges arrest

A former violin teacher at a Manchester music school who was facing sex abuse allegations shot himself dead as officers arrived at his home in the US to arrest him.

Chris Ling was one of a number of suspects in an investigation into abuse allegations at Chetham's School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.

The 58-year-old died at his home in Sherman Oaks in Los Angeles when officers from the US Marshals Office arrived to arrest him early on Tuesday morning.

Mr Ling moved to the United States in the early 1990s and ran a talent management agency.

A spokeswoman for the US Marshals Office said: "A team of US Marshals went to arrest Mr Ling and before they could do so he shot himself."

She said officers went to his home with a provisional arrest warrant and confirmed that it was likely he would have been extradited back to the UK.

Officers from Los Angeles Police Department were called to the property following reports of shots being fired and a spokesman said they have begun a death investigation into "an apparent suicide".

Last year Greater Manchester Police said it was considering extradition proceedings after a file of evidence in relation to complaints about Mr Ling had been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service.

They added that he had "failed to return to the United Kingdom" to answer questions on the allegations.

It had been reported that 10 women said Mr Ling abused them in the 1980s while he was a freelance teacher at Chetham's.

The allegations against Mr Ling were part of a wide-ranging inquiry called Operation Kiso.

Claims against a number of individuals came in the fall-out from the high-profile sex abuse trial in 2013 of Michael Brewer, the former music director at Chetham's.

Brewer was jailed for six years after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting ex-pupil Frances Andrade, 48, when she was aged 14 and 15.

Mrs Andrade killed herself at her home in Guildford, Surrey, a week after giving evidence against him.

The trial heard historical allegations that sexual activity between teachers and pupils at Chetham's was not uncommon.