Not elder law: elderly man’s dead body went “unnoticed” for 8 years

Workers responding to neighbors’ complaints of a bad smell comingfrom an apartment in western England discovered a body that laydecomposing on a couch for years while another resident lived there,officials said Friday.  The British Broadcasting Corp. reportedthat neighbors of the Bristol, England apartment had been complainingfor years about the stench and cleaning workers found the body.Neighbor Michael Stone told the BBC he assumed the tenant suffered frompoor hygiene and even offered him air fresheners.  A spokesman for Bristol City Council said the body was thought to have been in the apartment for at least eight years.  The identity of the man, who was thought to be in his 70s when he died, has not been released.  Policearrested the apartment’s tenant after the body was found Jan. 30, butconcluded the death was not suspicious. The occupant, also in his 70s,apparently failed to report the death because he suffers from mentalhealth problems.  Bristol Coroner’s Court launched an urgent inquiry on Friday to determine how the corpse had gone unnoticed for so long.

Source/more: Comcast News, http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/odd/2008/02/08/Britain.Body/