The former partner of Fiona MacKeown, mother of tragic Goa teenager Scarlett Keeling, has been discovered dead at his home. Adam Foster (39), father of two of 15-year-old Scarlett's siblings, was found at his flat in Torquay, Devon, police confirmed.

Foster, understood to have battled alcohol problems, had been in a relationship with MacKeown (44), whose daughter's half-naked body was recovered from the beach in Goa in February 2008.

He appeared before magistrates last year, where he was given a conditional discharge for being drunk and disorderly. After the case, he told the Herald Express newspaper: "This thing with Scarlett is just the tip of the iceberg. I was like it for years before this."

There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding Foster's "unexplained, sudden death", police said.

MacKeown, who was due to fly to India to give evidence at Scarlett's murder trial, said she would not comment on the death, having learned the news only on Wednesday.

MacKeown had two children with Foster ? Trinity Willow, aged eight, and Aurora Lupe, seven. She and Foster were together for four years, she said, adding that Scarlett did come to think of him as a father.

Her daughter was on a six-month holiday to India with her family when her semi-naked body was found on the beach in north Goa. The teenager, who was intoxicated with drugs and alcohol at the time of her death, had been attacked and raped.