A CELEBRATED Gwent artist, heralded as one of the best of his generation, died trying to find the way back to his home, an inquest has heard.

A widespread search was launched by police when Roger Cecil, who was 72 and from Abertillery, went missing from the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport on February 21, 2015.

His body was found at the Greenmeadow Golf Club in Croesyceiliog on February 24, last year.

Mr Cecil’s work was inspired by the Valleys landscape and South Wales’ industrial towns. He studied fine art at Newport College of Art and at London’s Central St Martins.

His decision to turn down a place at the Royal College of Art in London was so unheard of that the BBC made a documentary about him in 1964, one of two produced on him and his work.

On February 21, 2015, a friend had driven Mr Cecil to hospital because the artist said he had an appointment there, Newport Coroners' Court heard yesterday. He dropped Mr Cecil off and then arranged to meet him later but couldn’t find him.

Mr Cecil, who had Alzheimer’s disease, required a hernia operation no date for an appointment had been arranged, the inquest was told.

At about 12.45am the next day, February 22, a man saw Mr Cecil walking along the A4042 between Newport and Llanyrafon. Mr Cecil told the man he was walking back to Abertillery.

Worried for his safety, the man gave Mr Cecil a hi-vis jacket and dropped him off on Treherbert Road, just off the A4042, at about 1am.

A policeman, PC Stuart Panter, was waiting on the A4042 for a suspected drunk driver, saw Mr Cecil walking away from the site, the inquest heard.

But it was said that he was unaware there was any search under way to locate him and never saw his face.

Written evidence read out on behalf of PC Panter at the coroners' court said: "At no time was I aware that there was a missing person from the Royal Gwent Hospital."

Mr Cecil's niece Nicola Cole also gave written evidence about her uncle today.

She said: “He had a full life which he lived without regret.

“He died out in the open air, at one with nature, which is how he would have wanted to go.”

She added: “In the year or so before his death he had become forgetful and his short term memory was poor.

“There were occasions when he thought he had intruders in his house and I am aware of occasions when he had the locks changed.”

She said that he had encouraged him to see a doctor but that he declined because he believed they would think him “bonkers”.

Gwent coroner David Bowen said he was sure Mr Cecil’s death would have been “completely unexpected on his behalf” and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He added, as Mr Cecil’s niece had earlier, that he had walked from Newport to Abertillery many times, especially during his time at art college, and that “he would have remembered what he accomplished as a younger man”.

A post-mortem examination had earlier found Mr Cecil had died from hypothermia.

Gwent Police referred to themselves to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) after Mr Cecil’s death.

Yesterday the IPCC confirmed the case had been handed back to the same force for them to carry out their own investigation into their conduct.

The force subsequently found PC Panter had no case to answer.

They held what they said was a “comprehensive search” for Mr Cecil when he went missing, which included 50 officers, including specially trained search officers, dogs and a helicopter.