A career conman who targeted high-profile personalities and Olympic athletes died after dousing himself in acid in the middle of a court hearing, an inquest heard.

Mark Marshall, born Mark Castley, scammed footballer Adam Johnson, the ex-wife of businessman Scot Young and various Olympic athletes.

When he was first arrested for that fraud in 2016, Marshall stabbed himself in the neck in police custody and suffered a stroke, the inquest heard.

Despite this attempt, a probation service worker did not think Marshall was at “imminent risk” of making another attempt on his life.

The privately-educated fraudster is believed to have smuggled a corrosive substance past security into his sentencing hearing at Inner London Crown Court in April 2019.

He threw the liquid over himself after a judge sentenced him to two and a half years in prison for buying £77,000 of photography equipment with fake cheques and selling it to cash converters.

He died in hospital two months after the incident from his injuries.