Man died after he was found in popular city park
A MAN died a month after his sister, having been found hanging in a popular Cardiff park, an inquest heard yesterday.
A hearing into the death of Ismail Hassan, 27, was told that he was discovered at Roath recreation ground – popularly known as Roath Rec – on April 19 last year and died at 2.20am at the University Hospital of Wales on April 21.
Mr Hassan, a Sudanese citizen who had been given leave to remain in the UK, had previously told GPs he had no thoughts of self-harm and did not use alcohol, the inquest in Pontypridd heard.
However, in his last appointment, he reported sleeping problems to a lead nurse.
A statement from PC David Aspey, one of the officers who responded to a report of the incident on April 19, said that he began CPR until the ambulance arrived at the scene.
Officers continued CPR in the ambulance as Mr Hassan was taken to hospital and continued until he was taken to the resuscitation area.
A toxicology report found there were traces of ketamine in Mr Hassan’s blood but concluded this was due to medical treatment.
PC Ross Edwards said he attended Mr Hassan’s Arabella Street home afterwards and noted the bed was half-made “as if someone had got up and left” but said there was no sign of a note in the property that could have given clues about his intentions.
PC Edwards spoke with Mr Hassan’s father and an interpreter to update him on his son’s condition and the inquest heard his father was already aware that his son was “gravely ill”.
His father said that he had spoken to his son a month previously, which was the first time they had spoken in the five years since his son had left Sudan.
That call had been to inform Mr Hassan of his sister’s death in an accident.
His father believed this news would have “affected Ismail greatly as he and his sister were close”, the inquest was told.
A statement from a PC Thomas said he had responded to a call from a friend of Mr Hassan on April 13 last year saying Mr Hassan was in his room self-harming.
“I knocked on his door. It was quickly opened by a male who I now know to be Mr Hassan.
“He appeared like he had just woken up and didn’t appear anxious or stressed,” the statement read.
PC Thomas said that, due to the threat of a knife, Mr Hassan was handcuffed and spoken to while officers worked out if he had any weapons or injuries.
He said Mr Hassan was calm and told officers his friend had been with him and they had smoked some cannabis.
He asked PC Thomas to leave as he wanted to go to sleep and said his friend “might have made this up due to being under the influence of cannabis”.
PC Thomas said the handcuffs were removed as soon as it was clear that Mr Hassan was not armed.
“I believe this was a false call with good intent and Mr Hassan was not injured nor appeared upset or mentally unwell. I had no concerns for him at this time so left with colleagues,” the statement read.
Coroner David Regan entered a narrative conclusion and said there was no evidence of third-party involvement.
“However, I have no evidence as to his intention as he didn’t provide any evidence of that in the form of a note,” Mr Regan said.
He continued that, although the death of Mr Hassan’s sister might have caused some distress, “that in my judgement is not sufficient to immediately determine that Mr Hassan intended to end his life”.
He continued: “My finding would be that it is not possible to determine whether Mr Hassan intended to end his own life.”
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