A 69-YEAR-OLD Beverley man died on his doorstep from hypothermia after collapsing while wearing just a jacket, underwear and boots, an inquest has been told.
The inquest heard that Anthony Irving, of Hull Road, Woodmansey was found dead on his doorstep underneath a partial covering of snow on January 3.
Malcolm Garrity, who found his friend, said he had last spoken to Mr Irving on Christmas Eve when he
asked him if he was keeping warm.
"I said are you keeping warm this winter and he said he was alright but I knew he didn't have a fire," Mr Garrity added.
The inquest heard that Mr Irving, a retired electrician, had lived at the Hull Road property his whole life.
His sister, Pauline Atkinson, told the inquest that she had continued to do her brother's washing and baking for a period of time after their mother's death in 1975, but stopped when he started to behave oddly.
Mrs Atkinson described her brother as an eccentric and a bit of a loner, but she did not think he had any mental health problems.
Mr Irving's neighbour of more than 40 years, June Thorley, said: "He had found his mother in the doorway of the home and after his mother died he became very strange."
Recording a narrative verdict the coroner, Geoffrey Saul, said: "He died of hypothermia but he also had a chest infection. It's not possible to determine whether or not the chest infection preceded the hypothermia."
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