MYSTERY surrounds the death of a former steel worker who was suffering from a host of illnesses after an inquest found no clear cause of death.

Alfred Read, 67, was found dead in his supported home in Gemini Close, in Lordshill, in Southampton, on August 3 of this year.

The pensioner was suffering abdominal pain, schizophrenia, lung damage due to exposure to asbestos and severe breathing problems. But a post-mortem examination could not pin down the exact cause of death.

Pathologist Adrian Bateman said there was a possibility that he could have suffered from cardiac arrhythmia, where his heart could beat irregularly before stopping – but he admitted this was only a theory.

But coroner Keith Wiseman said: “I don’t have to know what natural cause it was. In terms of the legal position I am entirely satisfied that it was death from natural causes.

"One would like to know a little bit more about what happened and I am very sorry we don’t but everything has been done by Dr Bateman as can be.”