Leicestershire, UK -- A lonely 24-year-old woman starved to death in her city flat. Lorna Kwakye was found dead on her bed in Marquis Street, half-naked and weighing just four-and-a-half stone.
An inquest at Leicester Town Hall heard the woman had come to Leicester to study computing, but got a job when she found out the course was too expensive for her. When property managers broke in to her flat on January 7 this year, there was no food in the ?95-a-week flat and they found her emaciated body lying face up on her bed.
Tom Stoakley, maintenance manager with King Street Properties, said: "I came back to the bedroom door and pushed the door open. It was in darkness, but I could see the occupant lying face up on the bed with her arms crossed on her chest. "I noticed she was only clothed from the waist up and the blankets were on the floor. There was nothing in the house - not even basics, that I can recall. It was quite shocking really, in respect that she's young, and why was there no food?" Mr. Stoakley and a colleague called in police, who found only a few discarded chocolate wrappers in the flat.
According to information heard at the inquest, the young woman's mother had a stroke and was in Ghana, where Lorna had also been living until 2000. Friend Charity Gladstone said in a statement, "She became disturbed in October 2001. "I understand her parents had split up and she was talking about it a lot. My last contact with her was in December. I tried to contact her, but her mobile was switched off and she never got back to me. I would say she had never been a good eater. I would also say she was unable to make friends easily."
A post mortem examination showed she had died because of a combination of malnutrition and dehydration due to self-neglect. Coroner Martin Symington recorded a verdict of self-neglect. He said: "It does seem that this young lady was rather an introverted young woman who appears not to have made many close, or indeed, any friends at all.
"Clearly, she hadn't been eating for quite some considerable time. There was no food in the flat itself, although it does appear to be some evidence that she was in receipt of some monies so that it would seem she was in a position to buy food and other commodities, should she have chosen to do so."
Leicestershire, UK -- A lonely 24-year-old woman starved to death in her city flat. Lorna Kwakye was found dead on her bed in Marquis Street, half-naked and weighing just four-and-a-half stone.
An inquest at Leicester Town Hall heard the woman had come to Leicester to study computing, but got a job when she found out the course was too expensive for her. When property managers broke in to her flat on January 7 this year, there was no food in the ?95-a-week flat and they found her emaciated body lying face up on her bed.
Tom Stoakley, maintenance manager with King Street Properties, said: "I came back to the bedroom door and pushed the door open. It was in darkness, but I could see the occupant lying face up on the bed with her arms crossed on her chest. "I noticed she was only clothed from the waist up and the blankets were on the floor. There was nothing in the house - not even basics, that I can recall. It was quite shocking really, in respect that she's young, and why was there no food?" Mr. Stoakley and a colleague called in police, who found only a few discarded chocolate wrappers in the flat.
According to information heard at the inquest, the young woman's mother had a stroke and was in Ghana, where Lorna had also been living until 2000. Friend Charity Gladstone said in a statement, "She became disturbed in October 2001. "I understand her parents had split up and she was talking about it a lot. My last contact with her was in December. I tried to contact her, but her mobile was switched off and she never got back to me. I would say she had never been a good eater. I would also say she was unable to make friends easily."
A post mortem examination showed she had died because of a combination of malnutrition and dehydration due to self-neglect. Coroner Martin Symington recorded a verdict of self-neglect. He said: "It does seem that this young lady was rather an introverted young woman who appears not to have made many close, or indeed, any friends at all.
"Clearly, she hadn't been eating for quite some considerable time. There was no food in the flat itself, although it does appear to be some evidence that she was in receipt of some monies so that it would seem she was in a position to buy food and other commodities, should she have chosen to do so."
