An inquest has heard that questions still remain around the death of a father whose body was found by a pupil on a school playing field, with a belief he might have been killed after crashing his e-bike along a wonky canal towpath in bad weather.
The body of Neil Thompson, 45, was found by an 11-year-old girl who was getting ready to do PE at Smestow Academy in Wolverhampton on January 19 this year. He died from aspiration of blood caused by traumatic facial injuries as well as a traumatic head injury and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Unaccounted hours and CCTV evidence
Officers first launched a homicide investigation but the hearing heard mystery still surrounded exactly how he came to sustain his fatal injuries. Mr Thompson left his home on an electric bike at about 8.17pm the previous evening to visit a friend and left at about 1am the following morning.
CCTV showed him as he travelled along a canal towpath at about 1.26am before a member of the public walking his dog through Smestow Valley Nature Reserve photographed him in school grounds at about 7.15am. He is believed to have been alive at that point, but what happened in the hours before his body was discovered remained unclear, the inquest heard.
Postmortem findings and police investigation
A postmortem carried out on January 22 found significant injuries to the left side of Mr Thompson's face, evidence of a traumatic brain injury and a fracture around his left eye socket. Mr Thompson, of Castlecroft, Wolverhampton, had also suffered an injury to the front of his neck.
Consultant pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer said the injuries were consistent with blunt-force trauma and Mr Thompson could have suffered the injuries in a heavy fall but could have also been assaulted. Giving evidence, West Midlands Police Detective Inspector Joe Davenport, who led the homicide investigation, told the inquest police had carried out an extensive CCTV and forensic investigation.
The investigation placed Mr Thompson on the canal towpath between approximately 1am and 1.26am, but there was no CCTV footage showing the incident in which he suffered his injuries. Detective Inspector Davenport told the inquest his own theory was Mr Thompson had been thrown from his bike as he travelled at speed along the uneven towpath in poor weather conditions.
Uncertainty over how he got to the school field
The inquest heard there was no clear understanding of how Mr Thompson got from the towpath to the school playing field where his body was found. He would have had to negotiate or scale a fence to enter the school grounds, but investigators were unable to establish how or when he made that journey, and police found no confirmed damage or blood evidence along the towpath during their investigation.
CCTV from Smestow Academy and various access points to the nature reserve showed no evidence of another person with Mr Thompson on the canal towpath or around the school grounds at the relevant time. Investigators also found no evidence that Mr Thompson had been robbed. But DI Davenport admitted the whole nature reserve could not be completely sealed off and therefore the possibility of another person being involved could not be entirely excluded.
Black Country Area Coroner Mrs Joanne Lees recorded a narrative conclusion. She said Mr Thompson died from aspiration of blood caused by traumatic facial injuries and a traumatic head injury, with the circumstances in which those injuries were sustained remaining unknown.
In a statement at the time of his death, Mr Thompson's family said: "Our beautiful son, brother, father and friend Chuck, very much loved in the community of fishing, his one true love. His love for life and funny stories touched the lives of so many people."
The dad of the 11-year-old girl who found the body told previously how she was left 'really shaken up' after making the grim discovery. He said: "My daughter phoned her mom up, screaming, and told her that she found a dead body by the goal posts on the field. She's only 11 years of age. They went out for PE and it was very foggy. It's left her really shaken up. It's terrible what she's had to see."
