Colin Rickards, 71, died on the afternoon of June 17, East London Coroner’s Court was told on Monday (June 30).
He died at King George Hospital in Goodmayes, but was admitted there after a period of detention at a different hospital in Stapleford Tawney, Romford.
“Mr Rickards, prior to his admission, was a detained patient at the Priory Suttons Manor hospital,” senior coroner Graeme Irvine said.
“At the time of his death, Mr Rickards was on one-to-one care. He was suffering from depression and type 2 diabetes and it appears Mr Rickards was refusing to eat. He had become increasingly frail.”
He was admitted to King George on June 9 and died eight days later.
A post-mortem authorised by the court gave his provisional cause of death of pneumonia and advanced clinical frailty, against a backdrop of diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Mr Irvine said that was “ostensibly a natural cause of death”.
However, because Mr Rickards was in state detention, the coroner said he was required to open an inquest to “scrutinise what steps were taken to preserve Mr Rickards’s life.”
“I understand that Mr Rickards has no discernible next of kin that has been identified,” he continued. “We will take steps to investigate that further.”
If next of kin could be found, the coroner said, they would be granted “interested person” status, which entitles them to view evidence before the final inquest and question any witnesses called to testify.
Priory Hospital Suttons Manor was also granted interested person status.
Mr Irvine said he would ask the facility questions, including, “Was it the case that Mr Rickards was deliberately refusing to eat?”
The brief inquest opening did not hear why Mr Rickards had been detained, how long for, or where he lived prior to his detention.
Contacted for this news report, the Priory group declined to comment.
Mr Irvine ordered his staff to obtain Mr Rickards’s health records.
The final inquest was provisionally scheduled for January.
