2 weeks Ago
Stephen George Moore, 69, was found dead at his home in Butteridges Close in January. The man's body was discovered after concerns were raised about his welfare – but East London Coroner’s Court did not hear who had raised the alarm. Senior coroner Graeme Irvine opened an inquest into Mr Moore’s death at the Walthamstow courthouse on Tuesday, April 22.
He described Mr Moore as a divorced former council worker – but did not say which council he had worked for. Police and paramedics were called to the property on the afternoon of January 28, but London Fire Brigade had to be called in to open the door. Inside, Mr Moore – originally from Barking – was “found unresponsive on the floor,” Mr Irvine said.
He was pronounced dead at 3.42pm. The Metropolitan Police Service referred the death to the coroner for investigation because “no clear cause of death could be ascertained at the scene”.
A post-mortem was conducted on January 30 but also proved inconclusive until the results of toxicology tests were delivered. After receiving those results, pathologist Dr Vasi Sundaresan gave Mr Moore’s provisional cause of death as ketoacidosis (a high level of acid in the blood), caused by “chronic alcohol dependence and starvation”. Mr Moore also had ischemic heart disease, which was listed as a contributing factor.
Mr Irvine declared Mr Moore’s family interested persons in the case – a legal status entitling them to view evidence ahead of the final inquest and question any witnesses called to testify – and asked them to supply a background statement detailing Mr Moore’s “job, education, family and health, and any concerns that they have regarding the death". He also asked his staff to investigate whether Mr Moore had been receiving any treatment for alcohol dependence. The final inquest was listed for September.
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