Family of man found dead at flat demand answers after inquest

THE family of a man found dead at a Cardiff flat have said they deserve to know how he died and continue to call for answers after an inquest failed to determine how he met his death.

Christopher Fish, 42, was found dead at his flat in Pant Glas in Pentwyn at around 2.40pm on September 23 last year following reports of a sudden death.

Mr Fish, who grew up in Grangetown, was found on the floor of the bedroom of his flat.

An inquest into his death was held at Cardiff Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, which saw coroner Philip Spinney record an open verdict after the hearing was told the cause of death was “indeterminate”.

The pathologist who conducted the post-mortem examination said it appeared that Mr Fish’s body had been moved after his death.

Dr Deryk James said there were small injuries on his body which suggested that an assault had taken place.

“In total there were some 37 injuries that I’ve detailed and they are a mixture of splits, grazes and bruises,” he said.

“There are a number of injuries on him that are in keeping with him being moved. The majority of them are fresh injuries.

“There are a number of injuries that do suggest assault.”

Police confirmed that no-one has been charged with any offence in connection to the incident.

Following the inquest’s verdict, Chris’ devastated mother Gaynor Cook, 66, has questioned whether she has had any closure after his death.

She said: “Chris was mischievous as a child. He was a lovable rogue. He was a very polite person, as anyone would tell you.

“He would respect people. He worked and provided for his family. He was a ground worker.

“His downfall came when he was diagnosed with diabetes. After that everything seems to go downhill because he couldn’t work. That was about 10 years ago. The diabetes affected his feet that meant he couldn’t get his work boots on, so he couldn’t go on site. It was very frustrating.

“He was a good father and was getting more and more irritable because he couldn’t provide.

“He was very well known. I have had plenty of flowers and people are always asking. They can’t believe it. How can there be 37 marks and nothing can be done? It makes it so hard. There is never going to be any closure, is there?”

Chris’ sister Maria Fish, 45, said the conclusion of the inquest made them feel like “he had died again”.

She said: “I need to speak out for my brother Chrissy. I cannot get my head around it. My mum went and sat in the coroner’s room and had to listen to details about my brother’s life and death. I don’t feel like we have had any answers. We deserve to know how my brother died.

“He would not leave us on purpose. We want a new inquest to start – we will go from there.”

Chris’ sister-in-law Ceri Nicholls, 54, said: “We are looking at a lot of possibles and not a lot of probables. We want the probables – as close as they can get it.

“It is the who, what, when and how we want to know. Listening to the details was quite harrowing.

“When the pathologist got up and was saying his piece to the coroner, he went through every injury Chris had and what was in his blood and urine.”

Ceri said the pathologist’s evidence during the inquest was “the most traumatic part”.

She said: “I will never forget those words. After we got out of there no-one could speak for a while. We were dumbstruck.

“We came home and repeated what we