Law graduate died of scarring to heart muscle, inquest told
A law graduate who was preparing for the trip of a lifetime died after scarring caused by heart inflammation, an inquest has heard.
Rhys Jones, 25, was found in his Pontyclun home by his stepmother on October 6 last year after failing to turn up to work.
During the inquest coroner Andrew Barkley said in the months before his death Mr Jones had been losing weight ahead of an upcoming trip to Australia and was feeling “upbeat” after changing jobs.
A former rugby player for Penallta Rugby Club in Ystrad Mynach, Mr Jones studied law at Swansea University and graduated with an MA in law from Cardiff University in April 2017.
After graduating Mr Jones, originally from Ystrad Mynach, took a role with Hugh James solicitors – a job which his father said had caused him to feel “stressed and exhausted” – before changing company.
In a statement read at the inquest in Aberdare yesterday Catherine Jones said she had found her stepson lying face down on his bedroom floor after being reported absent by his employer. Sports supplements and high-caffeine supplements were later found in his property after a police search, along with two cannabis grinders.
Giving evidence, police officer Pc Lewis Briggs described the supplements as “readily available” at supermarkets and bodybuilding shops and said there was no evidence Mr Jones had used steroids.
He said: “The premises was secure, there was no sign of any forced entry. There is nothing to suggest to me that there was anything there to indicate the cause of death.”
Summarising Mr Jones’ GP records, Mr Barkley said he had had “little medical history”.
No trace of alcohol or drugs was recorded during a post-mortem examination.
Recording a conclusion of death due to natural causes, Mr Barkley said Mr Jones had died as a result of muscle scarring caused by heart inflammation myocarditis.