11:00am Thursday 18th March 2010
A FORMER lecturer was found dead by friends several days after injuring himself in a fall.
Robert Bennett, aged 72, died around two days after falling down the stairs at his home, on Elm Tree Road, Lymm.
He complained to his brother David Bennett, from Cheadle Hulme, that he felt sore around his rib area but thought it was bruising.
Mr Bennett was aware that his niece Mary Louise Kelly, who regularly visited him, was on holiday but left her a worrying message while he was away in the days leading up to his death.
Warrington Coroner’s Court heard on Wednesday that Mr Bennett was a heavy smoker and was often breathless.
David Bennett, a friend of Mr Bennett, became concerned about him after a friend said he had noticed milk left on his doorstep.
He said: “I looked through the letterbox and I could see him on the floor in his dressing gown.
“I thought he had been there for a considerable time because he would have been dressed otherwise.”
PC Steve Martin, from Warrington South NPU, said police believe he had not fallen down the stairs that day as he appeared to have fallen from a chair he was sitting on.
Dr Geoff Roberts, assistant deputy coroner for Cheshire, said Mr Bennett died accidentally after sustaining fractured ribs, which caused a tear to the pleura (membrane) Cardiac failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was said to be an indirect cause of death.
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