MYSTERY SURROUNDS 54-YEAR-OLD’S DEATH
Schizophrenic dead for some time before body was found
POLICE forced their way into a Stoke-on-trent home and found the body of a 54-year-old man after a neighbour raised the alarm.
The emergency services were alerted as Paul Mullineux’s curtains had been drawn for several days and no lights were on. The property in Hinton Close, Blurton, had also been unusually quiet.
An inquest heard officers arrived on the afternoon of April 14 last year and knocked on the boarded-up door. When they got no response, they forced their way inside.
Mr Mullineux was found lying on his back in a rear bedroom. He had been dead for some time.
It wasn’t possible to ascertain a definite cause of death but the inquest was told there were several possible scenarios.
Mr Mullineux had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but wasn’t in the care of mental health services at the time of his death.
His GP confirmed he had a prescription for an anti-psychotic drug which he was supposed to take several times a day.
In a report, pathologist Dr Mark Stephens said some patients taking this type of medication had an ‘increased risk of sudden cardiac death’.
Blood samples sent off for analysis after Mr Mullineux’s death detected no drugs or alcohol in his system at all.
But Dr Stephens added: “The levels of this drug drop after death. Although high levels would be detected, therapeutic levels may drop to below the level detected.
“Therefore, cardiac death from risperidone is a possibility, but cannot be regarded as a probability.”
Death could also have been related to a lung condition as Mr Mullineux had mild emphysema. Again, Dr Stephens described this as a possible rather than probable cause.
There was no trauma to the body and police ruled out any suspicious circumstances in the case.
Recording an open conclusion, North Staffordshire assistant coroner Sarah Murphy said:
“It has not been possible on the evidence to ascertain a probable cause of death. But I am satisfied there was no third-party involvement, that drugs and alcohol were not present, and that this was not a suicide.”