Farmer (75) died in a chair in his house, Mayo inquest told

A 75-year-old farmer found dead on a chair in his kitchen in north Mayo last July had been deceased for a number of days when discovered, an inquest has been told.

The hearing into the death of Frank Naughton, a bachelor, who lived at Breaffy, Ballina, was conducted by the Coroner for the District of Mayo, Dr. Eleanor Fitzgerald.

The last person to see the deceased alive was Darren O’Boyle, a former delivery driver in the Ballina area.

Mr. O’Boyle, in a statement to gardaí which was read into evidence at the inquest, said that when his business ended he still delivered items to Frank “as he had no one else to help him out."

Witness testified that on July 12 he delivered items of shopping to Frank’s house and briefly spoke to him.

He added that he arranged to meet Frank on July 16 to make arrangements about further shopping but was unable to contact him.

Mr. O’Boyle said that on July 17, when he hadn’t heard back from Frank, he went to his house and through a kitchen window saw him sitting in a chair with a lighter in his hand which was down by his side and there was no movement.

Garda David Reilly and a colleague investigated after the alarm was raised and found Frank slumped in a chair.

“It was obvious he had passed away,” Garda Reilly told the coroner.

He agreed with the coroner there was no evidence of assault or foul play or disturbance in the house.

Replying to the coroner, he said the deceased, who did a bit of farming, kept to himself.

The coroner read from an autopsy report that Frank suffered a calcified atheroma (hardening of the arteries) in the right coronary artery.

Returning a verdict of death from natural causes, Coroner Fitzgerald said he may not have had any warning or chest pain.

She put the date of death as four or five days earlier.

Sergeant Sean McHale joined the coroner in expressing sympathy with the relatives, friends and neighbours of the deceased.

* Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.