A FARTOWN man was found dead just two miles from home almost a month after going missing, an inquest heard.
Daniel Simmons, 20, was found dead near a storeroom on Blacker Road in Birkby on January 14, 2006.
An inquest at Huddersfield on yesterday heard that he had died after inhaling butane gas. The hearing had been previously adjourned for inquiries into an assault on Mr Simmons.
Mr Simmons, of Woodbine Road, had last been seen on December 16, 2005 and had last spoken to his mother on December 17.
Coroner Roger Whittaker said although Mr Simmons was found on January 14, 2006, the date of his death would be recorded as December 17.
Mr Whittaker said Mr Simmons may not have known experimenting with inhaling the gas would be lethal.
Recording a verdict of misadventure, he said: “This is in my view a procedure which he was entering for whatever reason, which unexpectedly went wrong.”
“With substances like butane there is no such thing as a safe or non-toxic level. Anyone who plays with butane is dicing with death. It is possible that Daniel would not have known its potential for causing death.”
Mr Simmons was unemployed but had previously worked as a forklift truck driver. The inquest into his death had been previously adjourned so that police could make further inquiries about an assault he suffered several months before his death.
He was attacked in Huddersfield town centre on October 3, 2005 by a group of people who punched and kicked him. He sustained only minor injuries.
However his mother Jane Langer, of Milnsbridge, told the inquest that in the weeks after the attack he received ‘disgusting’ text messages from some of the group members. He also received phone calls.
She told the hearing that she had spoken with the group members on the phone and asked what the problem was between them and her son. She was put on to speak to a man she did not know.
“I asked what was going on. They were taking the mickey out of me. He said when he got hold of Daniel he said Daniel was definitely going to be a dead man.”
However, the coroner said police had investigated the matter thoroughly and he was satisfied no third party was involved in Mr Simmons’s death.
He said: “Although I heard Mrs Langer’s evidence this morning about conversations she had with people who had been badmouthing Daniel and the expression ‘he was dead meat’ was used, there is no evidence before me to suggest that was more than idle chatter.”
