Cause of death uncertain

A WIDOW from Runcorn was found dead after a neighbour raised concerns she had not been seen for around five weeks.

An inquest at Warrington Coroner’s Court heard that Veronica La Personne, 73, was discovered when police were alerted to her bungalow on The Common in Halton Village on February 22.

Alan Moore, senior coroner for Cheshire, read a statement from coroner’s officer Amanda Edgar, who said the neighbour told PC Claire Howard she had not seen ‘Vonny’ for a long time, and brought her a screwdriver, which the officer used to open a window and enter.

She found the body of former housewife Mrs La Personne under a table under the living room window.

There was unopened post near the front door dated January 12.

Detective Sergeant John Rhodes attended and the police found no evidence of suspicious circumstances and ruled out burglary or robbery as a motive because there was cash in a drawer and jewellery in the bungalow.

A post-mortem completed by pathologist Dr Dilshad Shareef recorded the cause of death as ‘unascertainable’ because too much time had passed for any precise tissue, toxicology or other analysis to take place.

He was able to verify her identity using medical records, namely a hip screw procedure.

Mr Moore read a written statement from Mrs La Personne’s next of kin Mary Linda Wilkinson, who confirmed her sister was born in Whiston in 1946 and had been widowed in 2015 when her husband Caesar La Personne passed away.

Since then Mrs La Personne had

‘distanced herself’ from her sister and mother.

A statement from general practitioner Dr Harjinder Sandhu said Mrs La Personne suffered a ‘very severe grief reaction’ following her husband’s death.

In terms of health issues, the court heard Mrs La Personne had been visited by cardiac nurses in the past and ‘frequently ignored’ general practice appointments.

Dr Sandhu said she a rheumatology appointment diagnosed her as having chronic liver disease in 2013, believed to be due to alcohol consumption.

PC Howard, who discovered the deceased, said the bungalow was ‘extremely cluttered’ including around 20 empty wine bottles and also empty beer cans.

Mrs La Personne had declined help from social care in the past.

Mr Moore recorded an open conclusion with the cause of death as ‘unascertained’.