Death of man found on sofa after home raided not suspicious, says police
HUMBERSIDE Police say the the death of a man discovered by on his sofa by his daughter after burglars had ransacked his house the same night is not being treated as suspicious.
Officers were called to the property in Cleethorpes at around 10am on Tuesday, October 26, and found a man, known to be Mark Smith, pictured, who had sadly passed away.
Police were also responding to reports of a burglary at the address, but the two incidents are not thought to be linked at this time.
The circumstances surrounding Mr Smith’s death are not thought to be suspicious and extensive enquiries are taking place.
Humberside Police said: “On Tuesday 26 October 2021, officers attended to a property on Park Street in Cleethorpes at 10am.
“On arrival at the address, a man was found to have sadly died.
“The circumstances surrounding his death are not being treated as suspicious and our thoughts are with his family at this sad time. We have also received a report of a burglary at the same property, the two incidents aren’t thought to be linked. “Extensive enquiries are ongoing.” Mark’s heartbroken daughter Katie said: “I saw him Monday evening and, although he was poorly, I never thought anything like this would happen.
“He had the odd heart condition throughout his life, but never anything too bad.
“I went back to his house at 10am on Tuesday and found him dead on the sofa. The worst part was I had my children waiting outside in the car.
“However, things got worse when I started to look around, I noticed something wasn’t quite right.
“His head had moved and his phone had disappeared. When I rang it, it wasn’t in his flat, the paramedics then asked me to look
around to see if anything else was missing.
“His laptop was no longer on the table, £2,000 had gone from an envelope, his new drill and circular saw had disappeared, my children’s Nintendo Switches weren’t there and some Christmas presents he’d bought for them had been taken too.
“As well as these valuable items, they also took some random things like a frying pan from the kitchen, my dad’s cigarettes and some fresh orange juice out the fridge.”
She added: She”At the minute, we’ve got so many questions going around our heads. If I’d have gone to his earlier that day, as planned, could I have stopped all this?
“We’re not bothered about retrieving the stuff, it’s more the principle than anything else now.”
It is not clear whether Mr Smith had already died when the burglars entered the house, or if he passed away after they left.