10/03/2009
Elderly Burns' Victim Was Due To Move Into Care
An elderly man died accidentally after setting light to his clothes with a cigarette, an inquest has found.
William Joseph Smith, 73, was just days away from a move to a residential home as he was being treated for cancer at the time of the tragedy.
A friend found the burns' victim slumped in the kitchen of his Newtownards home, but it was too late to save him.
Two of his daughters explained that they wanted their father to move to alternative accommodation as they were concerned about him living alone in the first floor flat at Ardmillan Crescent.
They said that the social services had got him into the home he wanted to be in and he was supposed to move into the home a few days later.
The inquest heard that on a number of occasions Mr Smith, a retired factory worker, fell asleep while smoking in the months preceding his death.
The inquest court heard that the fatal fire was as a result of a cigarette as opposed to a spark from the fire in the living room because of the situation of burns on Mr Smith.
(BMcC/JM)
William Joseph Smith, 73, was just days away from a move to a residential home as he was being treated for cancer at the time of the tragedy.
A friend found the burns' victim slumped in the kitchen of his Newtownards home, but it was too late to save him.
Two of his daughters explained that they wanted their father to move to alternative accommodation as they were concerned about him living alone in the first floor flat at Ardmillan Crescent.
They said that the social services had got him into the home he wanted to be in and he was supposed to move into the home a few days later.
The inquest heard that on a number of occasions Mr Smith, a retired factory worker, fell asleep while smoking in the months preceding his death.
The inquest court heard that the fatal fire was as a result of a cigarette as opposed to a spark from the fire in the living room because of the situation of burns on Mr Smith.
(BMcC/JM)
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