Pensioner died after choking on piece of chicken

A pensioner choked to death while detained on a mental health ward, an inquest heard.

Charlie Wolf was eating dinner at Priory House, Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, when a piece of meat stuck in his throat.

Staff tried to dislodge the food using back slaps, upper thrusts and a suction machine, and encouraged him to cough, while colleagues dialled 999, but Mr Wolf fell unconscious and died in the dining room.

A post mortem revealed the 67-year-old died from inhaling a large lump of chicken.

The father- of- two suffered from mental and physical health issues including Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and bipolar disorder.

Both Parkinson’s and the antipsychotic medication Mr Wolf was taking can lead to problems with swallowing.

At the inquest at Archbishop’s Palace, Maidstone, on Tuesday and Wednesday, assistant coroner Kate Thomas, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, which runs Priority House, and next of kin Jenny Cork, agreed there was not sufficient evidence for a jury to decide whether the Parkinson’s played a role in his death.

Mrs Cork, a friend, said she fed Mr Wolf his lunch hours before he died last July.

She said: “He couldn’t cut it up so I fed it to him as if he were a small child.

“He shook so much he had problems using a knife and fork so shovelled it in with a spoon. When he did have issues it was because he’d put too much in his mouth – he’d done that before.”

Mrs Cork said Mr Wolf lived independently but had help with shopping and cleaning.

Psychiatrist Dr Pamadeth Shobha and ward manager Tom John both said Mr Wolf had never complained to the Priority House team about having difficulty swallowing.

He was monitored regularly.

Speaking after the inquest, grandmother- of- three Mrs Cork, 58, from Walderslade, said: “Charlie was kind and caring, very articulate and intelligent – he was a member of IQ society Mensa.

“He used to make me laugh. I would take him for days out in Broadstairs, Whitstable or Herne Bay. He was loud, he used to shout, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Mr Wolf joined the Navy after leaving school and later became a software engineer, at one point working for Canon.

Mr Wolf, of Bodiam Close, Gillingham, who was born Graham Robert Burkmar, was initially hospitalised under the mental health act in 2012 but allowed home after agreeing to take his medication and engage with the mental health team.

In June last year, he stopped taking his medication and, after spending 54 hours in Maidstone Hospital due to problems with his diabetes, was taken back to Priority House.

The inquest found his death was an accident.