Death by gas poisoning ‘suspicious’, say police

POLICE have launched an investigation after a man died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Officers discovered the body of a 58-year-old man at a flat on Wood Street, Middleton, after receiving reports that a man had died.

A Home Office post-mortem was conducted and toxicology reports confirmed he had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The body was found on September 14, and, two months on, detectives are now treating the death as ‘suspicious’ and have launched an investigation.

The man lived in a flat above Shop Locally, the former Who’d A Thowt It pub, and police are keen to speak to anyone who was in the shop or the area and noticed anything unusual.

They say they would particularly like to speak to people who were there from around 5pm on Wednesday, September 13, until the time the man died, as they may hold key information.

Det Con Dan Daly said: “This innocent man tragically died after being poisoned in his own home – the place where you should feel safe.

“We have carried out a number of lines of enquiry and whilst we appreciate this incident happened over two months ago, there would have been a lot of police in the area at the time so it’s likely you will remember seeing this.

“I would urge anyone who was in the shop during those times to come forward and speak to police.

“Any information could prove vital as we need to establish a full picture of what happened.”

No more details of the circumstances surrounding the death have been released.

Anyone with information can contact police on 101, quoting reference number 1108 of 14/09/17.