Mystery of a dad found dead in flat

DOCTORS could not determine what killed a man found dead at his Peacehaven home.

Police knocked down the front door of 47-year-old David Johnson's flat in Beresford House, Trafalgar Close, after relatives raised the alarm on April 4.

An inquest at Eastbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, heard that Mr Johnson's uncle called police when his nephew failed to meet him for a drink at the pub and he could get no answer at his home.

Police found Mr Johnson dead in his bedroom. There were no signs of foul play or suicide.

Pathologist Dr Margaret Ashton-Key said tests for drugs and alcohol were negative and Mr Johnson's heart was in good condition.

'I could not ascertain the cause of death,' she told the inquest.

However, she did find tiny bloodspots in his eyeballs which were consistent with asphyxiation.

The inquest heard that Mr Johnson, a fine arts packer, lived alone with his cat. His marriage, which had produced a son, ended in divorce 17 years earlier due to his alcohol problems.

In a statement read out in court his uncle, John Johnson, of Telscombe Road, Peacehaven, said his nephew gave no indication he was unhappy and was looking forward to a visit from his son. 'I do not think he would take his life.

'He was looking forward to his son coming back and visiting him in the summer and he was devoted to his cat.'

His former wife described him as 'an emotional and sensitive man' and said he seemed to have drunk less recently.

Coroner Alan Craze said it was a tragic death. 'It is always difficult to accept when to a very large extent it cannot be explained,' he said.

He suggested the eye bloodspots could have been caused by Mr Johnson falling and suffocating as was some time the case with elderly people who fell out of bed and were unable to move.

Verdict: open.