Spike pensioner 'impaled himself'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7901360.stm

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An 80-year-old man thought to have been murdered with a barbecue skewer and left in a cupboard probably died after impaling himself, police say.

Leslie Ince, from Walsall in the Black Country, spent up to three days in the cupboard at his home before being found by his son in February 2007.

Detectives said they now thought he had suffered a stroke, become disorientated and fallen on to the skewer.

He died later in hospital. An inquest will now be held on 26 March.

Det Supt Matt Ward, of West Midlands Police, said the force had reached its conclusion, two years after the incident, after receiving advice from experts across the country.

These included specialists in the field of unusual injuries, criminal profilers and forensic psychologists.

"We will be presenting a report to the coroner next month outlining our belief that Leslie Ince suffered a stroke, become extremely disorientated and, in a tragic accident, impaled himself on a barbecue skewer which was stored at a low level under the stairs," he said.

Mr Ince kept the metal spike under the stairs police said

"There have been no signs of forced entry, of stolen belongings, of witnesses or indeed of other people being in Mr Ince's house at the time of his death."

He said they had been in close contact with Mr Ince's family in the UK and Canada who had supported the investigation.

Mr Ince was found after his son flagged down a police car when he could not get into the house.

At the time, officers said they were looking for two youths spotted near the property a week before.

In 2008, the force offered a £5,000 reward for information and also revealed Mr Ince had spoken about people entering his home before he was injured.

"Before he was taken to hospital he was asked what had happened and he was able to say that they came into his house, " a West Midlands Police spokesman said last year.

"Unfortunately he wasn't able to identify who 'they' were at the time."