Court

Cops Failed to Section Man, Then Left His Body Decomposing for Five Weeks, Coroner's Court Hears
Thur 22nd August 2013, Yellow Advertiser

POLICE considered sectioning a man the day before his disappearance, a coroner has heard.

The revelation came as an inquest into Michael Redmond’s death was officially opened last Thursday.

Mr Redmond, 47, of The Vale, Basildon, was officially pronounced dead on August 12, after police discovered his body in woodland on Basildon Golf Course. He had been missing since July 5.

Assistant coroner Eleanor McGann formally opened her investigation into the death at the Civic Centre, Chelmsford.

Coroner’s officer Paul Gammon told Mrs McGann that Mr Redmond’s disappearance came one day after police were informed of concerns over his mental state.

He said: “On the fourth of July his mother became increasingly concerned for his welfare, with police considering a section.”

The last known sighting of Mr Redmond was close to the 13th hole on Basildon Golf Course at 7.15pm the following day.

Mr Gammon said Mr Redmond was ‘last seen running barefoot across a golf course towards some woods’.

Police with sniffer dogs carried out extensive searches of the course in July but failed to discover a body.

They continued issuing witness appeals after calling off their search and began looking into areas Mr Redmond was known to frequent, as far away as Wales.

Specialist search officers returned to the course with Met Police cadaver dogs – specially trained to find dead bodies – on Monday, August 12. They discovered Mr Redmond’s body within hours of launching the new search.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said the search was not prompted by a tip-off.

Chief Inspector Paul Howell, lead investigator in the case, last week confirmed that the location where the body was found had already been searched several weeks earlier. He declined to specify the location and said he was ‘not in a position to comment’ on whether it had been buried or concealed.

Chief Inspector Howell told the YA a post-mortem examination had failed to identify Mr Redmond’s cause of death, but said the death was not being treated as suspicious.

He said the decision not to treat the death as suspicious was taken by Dr Nat Carey, who conducted the post-mortem exam under police supervision.

Mrs McGann said at last Thursday’s hearing that although police were still awaiting toxicology results, they had ‘ruled out any third party involvement’ and Mr Redmond’s body could therefore be released to his family.

Mr Gammon read out Mr Redmond’s medical history in open court. It included treatment for ‘steroid abuse’ and ‘generalised anxiety disorder’ in 2003, ‘alcohol abuse’ in 2008, ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ in 2009 and ‘anger management’ in 2010.

Mr Gammon told the court Mr Redmond was a previous ‘heavy smoker’ and was diagnosed as a ‘cardiovascular event risk’ in 2010.

Chief Inspector Howell said last week that police had concluded their investigation into the death.

He said: “We will put together a file for the coroner and continue to work with the family to make sure they receive the support they need.”

Asked about a possible investigation to determine whether the body should have been found earlier, he said: “I think, like any sad situation, Essex Police always looks to review its investigations and establish how it has performed.”

Mrs McGann adjourned the inquest until February 2014.

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