Inquest finds Dublin man lay dead in home for weeks

A 69-year-old man who suffered from “chronic shyness” was dead in his home for some weeks before he was found.

Gregory Sharp from St Peter's Avenue in Cabra, Dublin 7 was a private individual who lived alone, an inquest heard. His body was badly decomposed when found in an upstairs bedroom on July 31st, 2017.

The former Phillip’s Electrical worker cared for his mother at the family home until her death more than 20 years ago.

In retirement he rarely interacted with anyone, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

Mr Sharp's sister Valerie Sharp said she wrote and sent cards to her brother but never got a reply.

“He suffered from chronic shyness, if anyone knocked at the door he would run upstairs. I wrote to him many times but he would never reply. He wouldn’t like to put his feelings down on paper,” she said.

Neighbour Pat McGee said she called gardaí when she noticed flies in the window of the man’s home. She put a note through his letter box but got no reply.

“He was shy and reserved and kept to himself,” she said.

Build-up

Garda Jack Beckett of Mountjoy Garda Station said he went to the house on the morning of July 31st following a call from Mrs McGee.

“There was a large build-up of post and flyers behind the front door. The deceased was lying behind the door of an upstairs bedroom in a bad state of decomposition,” Garda Beckett said.

In the kitchen, he found milk with a sell-by date in early July and a newspaper from around the same period. Unopened post dated from July 7th.

Death was pronounced at the scene and Mr Sharp was identified through DNA profiling.

A postmortem conducted by Prof Eamon Leen could not establish why the man had died.

The pathologist found the man was wearing a signet ring on his finger and had his slippers on at the time of death but no other findings were possible due to the level of decomposition.

“Death had occurred a significant time before anyone entered the property. It was hot, it was the middle of the summer and that would increase the rate of decomposition,” Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said.

“Given where he was found the most likely thing is that he collapsed in his bedroom,” the coroner said.

Returning an open verdict, the coroner said there was insufficient evidence to explain why the man passed away.

“From what we hear he was active and healthy and it would appear that whatever happened to him was sudden,” the coroner said.