Reason for death of man at Telford homeless hostel unclear
A man who was found dead in his room at accommodation provided by a Telford homeless charity died of natural causes or due to alcohol, a coroner has concluded.
Simon Edwin John Holmes, 61, had been living at Egbaston House in Wellington since October 2017, when he was found dead in his room on August 1 this year.
An inquest into his death was held at Shirehall on Tuesday.
Coroner for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, John Ellery, explained how Mr Holmes had begun with the homeless charity Maninplace in August 2017, before moving to the shared accommodation in Wellington in October.
Mr Ellery explained that the last person to see Mr Holmes was Rose Hill, the property management advisor, who saw him nine days before he died.
On an inspection of the room, she noted empty bottles of vodka and Mr Holmes saying: "I'm dying, I just want to go to bed, as I haven't slept."
She asked a support worker Jessica Walker if Mr Holmes was getting support, but she said he had refused support on a number of occasions.
On August 1, Miss Walker went to his room where he was found dead. The last time he was seen was on July 23.
Mr Ellery explained that due to the state of Mr Holmes' body, it was difficult to establish a cause of death.
Dr Nicholas Green, who carried out the post mortem said Mr Holmes had died some time before he was discovered.
Due to not being able to take blood or urine samples, he recorded a cause of death as unascertained
His GP, Dr Douglas, said in a report that Mr Holmes had history of problems with alcohol, and with jaundice, before stating there was no evidence of suicide or self harm.
Mr Ellery said: "I record the medical cause of death as unascertained, and a narrative conclusion of natural causes or alcohol-related."
