Man who lived in 'squalid' flat died from self neglect

A WELL-LIKED and sociable but private man did not shower for years because a motorbike accident made him nervous of being unsteady on his feet.

- by OLIVIER VERGNAULT

An inquest into the death of James Bryan Andrewartha heard how the 59-year-old did not look after his own health and wellbeing and lived in a squalid, faeces-covered flat where he drank up to 12 gin and tonics a day.

The hearing in Truro on Wednesday, June 11, was told that Mr Andrewartha had suffered from the trauma of being separated from his parents at a young age when he was sent off to boarding school where he suffered from abuse. His friend Paul Bell told the coroner's court how Mr Andrewartha was well known around Hayle and was "friendly and sociable, but also a very private man".