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Alan Brady |
‘I still don’t know why my son died’
Mother says inquest has not given family ‘closure’ after eyewitnesses fail to attend
THE mother of a young epileptic man who died after having seizures for nearly two hours said a coroner’s inquest has not helped her find out the truth surrounding his death.
Chelsea football fanatic Alan Brady, 24, died at University College Hospital in March after going into an epileptic fit at a house in Arlington Road, Camden Town.
A man and a woman who were present at the time of the fit did not respond to a summons to give evidence at an inquest held to establish the circumstances surrounding his death.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid decided against postponing the hearing to search for the eyewitnesses.
Mr Brady reportedly turned up at the house at around 2am after apparently wandering the streets and being beaten up by teenagers. An ambulance was called at around 5am.
Speaking after an inquest into her eldest son’s death at St Pancras Coroner’s Court on June 16, Regina Cojocarel said she had been left without “closure”.
She said: “I didn’t get anything from the inquest. I don’t have any closure about his death and I still don’t know what happened to him. The coroner should have made sure they were there, or read out their statements.”
Dr Reid said Mr Brady had a high temperature and dilated pupils when he was found by an ambulance team. No police investigation was carried out.
Returning an open verdict, Dr Reid said: “On the evidence I’m not able to reach a conclusion. I’m returning a verdict that the evidence does not explain the cause of his high temperature, dilated pupils and coagulopathy [a blood clotting disorder].”
Janice Brady, 23, his sister, said he also had learning difficulties and often lived in a mess because he struggled to clean or tidy. Quizzing Harvey Burrows, a manager for Camden’s learning disabilities team, Janice Brady said: “No one did anything, everything we requested wasn’t done. If he had stayed at my mum’s house he would be alive today.”
She said he used to tell her he worried he would have a fit at home and lie undiscovered. His mother said that when he moved out of the family home in Haverstock Hill he began to smoke marijuana and wander the streets at night.
She said: “There was agencies coming in and out of there [his building] but they didn’t have any responsibility for Alan after 4pm and he was just allowed to roam the streets. They said he was independent but he wasn’t.”
Putting the question to Mr Burrows, Dr Reid said: “What more could you have done to prevent him from walking the streets?”
Mr Burrows replied: “It was really about encouraging Mr Brady to engage.”
Dr Reid told Alan’s family their concerns about his care were “unrelated to his cause of death” and should be directed at Camden Council.
A council press official said staff were “saddened” about his death and offered their condolences to his family.
She added: “He was engaged with care services and colleagues who supported him. Mr Brady was placed in supported living at his request with appropriate support.”
Speaking outside court his family paid tribute to his work with disabled children at WAC in Haverstock Hill and the elderly through the Camden Society, and said he was popular with all the shopkeepers in Camden High Street .
He leaves behind sisters Donna, 25, Janice, 23, brother Shane Cojocarel, 12, mother Regina and cousin Nicola Sexton. |
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