A CORONER has warned that more deaths could follow if action is not taken after a man was found dead in a tent beside the river Wye in Herefordshire.

Herefordshire coroner Mark Bricknell has released a Prevention of Further Deaths report after the death of Sam Malcolm Taylor.

Mr Taylor had suffered mental health issues, and had attempted suicide on previous occasions, the report said.

He was found dead in his tent beside the river Wye by members of the public, and an investigation was opened into his death by the coroner in November 2022, concluding with an inquest in June 2023, at which a narrative conclusion was recorded.

Paperwork found with him suggested he had recently been admitted to hospital after to a suicide attempt which had left him in a coma for three days, while a note said he would feel suicidal if he returned to the tent he was staying in, the report said.

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Mr Bricknell said the evidence revealed during the inquest had given him cause for concern, and that he felt there is a risk of future deaths unless action is taken.

The report said that a prevention duty was owed to Mr Taylor and that, owing to Herefordshire Council communication process failure, contact was not made with him or those with whom he had approved contact prior to his death.

Evidence also suggested that Mr Taylor would have met the threshold for vulnerability set out in the Housing Act 1996, but that the failure to progress an application resulted in this never being established.

The report has been submitted to the chief coroner, Herefordshire Council, and Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.

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