Sheffield man may have been dead for a few days before he was found in his bed, inquest hears

Ian Brammer, of Gleadless, was found dead at 3.20pm on June 9, 2021, about two weeks after he last spoke with his friend.

An inquest held at Sheffield Coroner's Court on July 15 heard that Ian, who had briefly worked as a fish and chip shop assistant, is said to have kept himself in his bedroom, which was located in the living room, for six days since he was last seen.

In a statement read out by Assistant Coroner Tanyka Rawden, his friend, Sean Reynolds, said Ian, who was described as 'tidy', started to have a change in his behaviour when Covid restrictions were put in place.

He said he and Ian entered a relationship at the beginning of 2015. After three weeks, they decided that they were better off as friends but Ian continued to stay in his flat as he had nowhere else to go.

Things went well at first, said Sean, but soon after the pandemic hit, he started to complain that he could no longer go to the pub or see his mum since they were in a different 'bubble'.

Sean’s statement read: "He stopped seeing his sister as well. He stopped going out and that gradually impacted on his mental health and he became reclusive as a result.

"He started making less of an effort with himself, with his hygiene and everything else. He did struggle but he didn't want any support.

"He also became very forgetful and weak and he wouldn't remember the smallest thing and I assumed this was due to malnutrition. He was not eating or cleaning his room."

Sean also said that Ian would take his painkillers 'more than usual' due to what he said was a toothache, which he advised him to get checked.

He also described the state of Ian's room, after he saw rubbish scattered at the 'height of his bed' and said that Ian continued to sleep in his bed even though it was in a 'dire' state.

Sean then said he was told to stop going into his bedroom after he told him to clean it up at the end of May.

He said: "I thought he would come around when he was ready. There was no arguing and I thought all he wanted was his privacy."

‘No police suspicions’

Dr Katie MacDonald, a consultant pathologist, who conducted the post mortem, said it was 'quite difficult' to find the cause of death due to organ decomposition.

She also said that there was nothing outstanding in the CT scan and his GP records showed that there wasn't very much in terms of illnesses apart from the fact that he was HIV positive, which was 'well managed'.

She said: "I didn't find anything in that scan. When I examined him, there was a fair degree of decomposition - it was clear he'd been dead for quite a few days.

"Aside from this, there was nothing else to find so there was no evidence of any particular disease, no bruising or anything like that… there were also no police suspicions in the scene.

"I didn't do an internal investigation specifically of the organs because of the degree of decomposition so as well as externally, each organ will then start to break down so the findings won't necessarily be as useful to us."

She said Ian also had no history of alcohol issues and there were no empty bottles or cans around him when he was found.

She said: “We didn’t see any liver disease on this scan so without any of that together, I don’t think that could be the case of death.

"And we didn’t find any painkillers there like his friend has suggested in his history so I think we can probably exclude that as well.

"Overall, he passed away quickly in the night so we can probably assume since he was found in his bed. But I can’t from all the testings that I’ve done to tell you why which I’m very sorry about.”

She also said that this was 'not very common' for her to not find any cause of death.

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Ian described as ‘fiercely independent’ by sister

His mum, Christine, told the inquest that she last saw him the year before due to Covid because both of them were classed as 'vulnerable'.

She said: "He has drunk a lot in the past but he's never been alcoholic. I know he wasn't drinking much. But I did think that it was depression that was partly due to Covid."

His sister, Liz, who described Ian as 'fiercely independent', said his brother always 'had his own agenda'.

She said: "He's always been fiercely independent but then suddenly, when he does need something, he would ask. A strange mixture, really. And if he said he chose to stay away from you, he would."

She also said the family had been trying to reach him on the phone but it kept ‘going to voicemail’ after they hadn’t heard from him a for a long time.

Ms Rawden then returned the inquest with an 'open' conclusion, which she described as 'very rare'.

She said: "This is the third time in my whole career (to conclude this as open). We usually have something or some way of explaining but we don't have anything… if you take it, this was likely to be a medical event.”

She then conveyed her condolences to Ian's family.

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