The body of a Cricklewood man was left for almost a week before being discovered by neighbours, an inquest heard.

Stephen Coohill, 33, of Cedar Road, was found dead with a chicken bone in his mouth on November 8 after his landlady Linda Whorenksey, realised he had not been seen for several days.

Speaking at Hornsey Coroner’s Court on Thursday, Ms Whorenksey said she immediately knew there was something wrong when she entered Mr Coohill’s flat.

“I came into the property and something didn’t smell right,” she added.

“I couldn’t find the spare key, so I asked a neighbour if they could go up a ladder and look through the window.

“We could see that he was lying on the floor and that’s when we called 999.”

PC David Burgum was the first officer on the scene and broke through the door to find Mr Coohill fully clothed and lying on his back.

He noted there was a chicken bone in his mouth but said there were no signs there had been a struggle.

He said: “There was no evidence of intervention by some other person.

"There was nothing to lead us to establish that this was suspicious.”

Initial pathology reports carried out on November 11 were unable to determine the cause of Mr Coohill’s death.

A neighbour’s statement, read out in court by coroner Andrew Walker, said he had heard a groaning voice from another flat on Friday, October 31.

“It was very loud coughing but I didn’t think it was Stephen Coohill at the time,” the statement continued. “I started to think I was hearing things.”

Two of Mr Coohill’s brothers and one sister were in court along with his landlady to hear the coroner record an open verdict.

Mr Walker said: “We have some evidence as to when Mr Coohill became unwell and we know he was not found until November 8, but that is all we have in this inquest.

“Even though the path-ologist found no evidence that he choked on a chicken bone, he did have a bone in his mouth.”

He added: “I don’t have enough evidence to say if this was an accident or natural causes.

“In the circumstances, because I am not sure on the balance of probability whether he died as a consequence of a chest infection or as a consequence of something he had eaten, I have no alternative but to leave the verdict open.”