Neighbours of William Chapman, the 23-year-old man mauled to death by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, have described him as a 'lovely' man who 'always held the door open for you'. Mr Chapman died after climbing into the tiger enclosure on October 10.
Neighbour recalls moment of realisation
Next door neighbour Josh Anderson, 24, said: "We had no idea what had happened, we just knew someone had jumped into the tiger's enclosure. But then we saw his face on the news. Me and my missus had just woken up and we looked at each other and said, 'What the f***'."
Mr Chapman was living in a one-bedroom, £120,000 flat less than five miles from the park at the time of his death. Josh, who moved in next door around four months ago, said Mr Chapman would spend time in the nearby Ballers Sports Bar and was a "lovely man".
Friend remembers a 'responsible' man
Josh, who lives with his girlfriend, said: "I knew William, I have been here about four to five months and William was already here. I knew him from work, he was a lovely, lovely man. He was absolutely harmless. He definitely struggled with [mental health problems]."
He added: "For the first year in the pub he would come in and he would struggle to speak to people. He would come in and just linger and wouldn't speak. But for the past six months he had become very approachable, very friendly."
Josh said William revealed he had been on TV as a child, telling him "Oh, I used to be on the TV". He said William loved Formula One and "All he'd ever speak about was F1". Josh described him as chivalrous and responsible, noting he "used to hold the door open for my partner all the time".
He said: "I saw him about a week before [his death]. I went from not seeing him at all to seeing him daily. The last time I saw him he just seemed normal, he didn't seem out of his usual self. He lived alone, but I didn't go into his flat. He was a very individual person. He started to bridge connections and everyone at the pub used to get on with him. He'd go in regularly, he'd have a pint of orange juice or perhaps a pint of John Smiths. He was very responsible."
Inquest hears of mental health concerns
An initial inquest into his death took place on Thursday morning. A post-mortem examination carried out by Dr Karzai gave a provisional cause of death as 1A multiple traumatic injuries and 1B animal interaction. A fuller report will be provided, and an inquest date has been set for March 18 next year.
The hearing at Doncaster Coroner's Court was informed that Mr Chapman had experienced previous episodes of psychosis and was diagnosed as schizophrenic. Coroner's officer Caitlin Brookes stated that his family had raised "a number of concerns" regarding his interactions with mental health services.
Mr Chapman was under the care of adult mental health services in Doncaster but was described as "highly functioning and independent with no care requirements," the inquest heard. Ms Brookes revealed that the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation trust had initiated an investigation following his death. The inquest learned that Mr Chapman was a self-employed online trader residing in Doncaster at the time of his death.
Ms Mundy shared that Mr Chapman's family "were finding things incredibly difficult" and had chosen not to attend the hearing, but would be updated afterwards by her team. They previously said they wanted to get to the "bottom of why our amazing son did what he did".
City of Doncaster Council, which holds responsibility for licensing the park, is conducting a health and safety investigation and has committed to sharing the findings with the coroner, the hearing was informed.
