Coroner rules in governor’s death
A SCHOOL governor died after tripping at his Highgate home, a coroner’s court heard on Tuesday.
Retired accountant Dudley Fox, 90, was found by his wife Patricia at their Bisham Gardens house in January. Mrs Fox told St Pancras Coroner’s Court: “I heard a loud bang and found him at the foot of the stairs.”
Mr Fox, who was a governor at a number of schools including William Ellis in Highgate Road, was taken by ambulance to the Whittington Hospital’s intensive care. But he died after suffering a cardiac arrest the next morning.
Pathologists said a history of heart disease was only a contributing factor and not the cause of his death.
It was unclear what had caused Mr Fox to fall and he had shown no signs of dizziness.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid said Mr Fox died after fracturing his ribs, adding: “This caused injuries to his lung and as a result of these injuries his respiration failed.”
Mr Fox’s work for education, which included serving as the vice-chairman at La Sainte Union as well as the former deputy leader of the Conservative group on the Inner London Education Authority during the 1980s and governor of a number of Catholic schools, was honoured with one of the oldest knightly order of the papal court – the Order of St Sylvester.