Rough sleeper found dead after family reunion
A MUCH-LOVED rough sleeper who was reunited with his family four years ago after a mass appeal has tragically died.
Jon Ellerington was found dead outside a coffee shop. The 41-year-old was seen making a final bed for his faithful Jack Russell – named Teddy – just hours before dying in the night.
In 2018, while Jon was sleeping rough in Manchester, one of his sisters made a plea for help finding him to the Manchester Homeless Outreach group. She told Alan Morris, the group’s founder, to look out for a missing finger on Jon’s hand.
Alan told the M.E.N: “Weeks later we bumped into him late at night and he asked to put his own sugar in his brew. That’s when I noticed his index finger missing.” Alan posted a photo on Facebook with Jon after meeting him in March 2018 as he tried to get back in touch with his sister. It led to Jon being reunited with his loved ones.
Alan added: “I told him he had family asking about him, we bought him a phone and put his sister’s number in there and ended up getting him home to Hull.”
Jon’s return in the spring of 2018 came at a joyous time for the family.
Sammi Ellerington, one of Jon’s sisters, said: “He did go to Manchester for a few months. As we couldn’t find him and was sleeping rough over there, we did track him down and bring him back home right in time to meet my son [who was] just born.”
But tragically, last December Jon was found dead on one of the streets of his hometown of Hull.
An inquest into Jon’s death heard how CCTV footage showed him appearing to slump and lose consciousness.
Over the next few hours, several people tried to check on Jon and two men even left food for him. Sadly, he was found lifeless on the pavement the following morning.
Jon came from a big family with seven siblings and he would look after his nephews and nieces. He had desperately tried to kick a drug habit so he could see his daughter, the inquest heard last week.
Following his death on December 18 last year, a post-mortem examination found Jon had potentially lethal levels of heroin in his system, along with evidence of different painkillers.
Describing his brother as a ‘loveable guy,’ another of Jon’s sisters said: “Jon did get off the drugs from time to time and would go cold turkey, but it would never last. He actually got clean for two years because he wanted to stay in touch with his daughter.”
Lorraine Harris, the area coroner, decided there was no evidence Jon intended to end his life and concluded his death was ‘drug related.’