The inquest into the death of William Chapman, 24, who was mauled by a tiger after climbing into its enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, has heard that his family raised concerns about his contact with mental health services before his death.
Doncaster Coroner's Court was told Mr Chapman had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and had suffered previous bouts of psychosis, but was living independently. The hearing heard that Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Trust had commissioned a Patient Safety Incident Investigation (PSII) to examine his contact with services.
Senior coroner for South Yorkshire East Nicola Mundy told the hearing: "During my communications with Mr Chapman's family they confirmed he had a history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and had suffered previous bouts of psychosis and was under the care of Doncaster Mental Health Services."
Cause of death confirmed
A post-mortem examination by Dr Karzai gave a provisional cause of death as 1a multiple traumatic injuries and 1b animal interaction. The injuries rapidly led to Mr Chapman's death, and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The inquest heard that Mr Chapman climbed two fences to enter the tiger enclosure at the Doncaster zoo on Saturday. He filmed his last moments as he approached Altai, a five-year-old Siberian tiger, and posted the footage online. Witnesses saw the big cat maul him, and a woman tried to hold him back as he entered the enclosure shortly after 1.30pm.
Mr Chapman's family, who declined to attend the inquest opening, previously said in a statement that he "suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication". They added: "It will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death."
Neighbour pays tribute
Josh Anderton, 24, who lived next door to Mr Chapman in a one-bedroom flat less than five miles from the park, described him as "a lovely, lovely man" who was "absolutely harmless". Mr Anderton said Mr Chapman had struggled to speak to people in the past but had recently become "very approachable, very friendly".
Mr Anderton said: "I saw him about a week before [his death]. I went from not seeing him at all to seeing him daily. He used to hold the door open for my partner all the time. The last time I saw him he just seemed normal, he didn't seem out of his usual self."
He added: "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***'. He seemed relatively stable-minded, so we never saw that coming."
Investigations and next steps
City of Doncaster Council has launched a health and safety investigation into Mr Chapman's death, and the park remains closed for a sixth day. The coroner's officer has been asked to contact Yorkshire Wildlife Park to ensure any CCTV is obtained and to find out if Mr Chapman had attended the park previously.
The inquest has been adjourned and listed for March 18 next year. The coroner said: "One final matter I will mention is that the inquest has been listed for the 18th of March. The venue may well be different, I am currently in temporary accommodation, which is why the court hearing has been conducted here."
