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23/09/2011
Man Died From Spontaneous Combustion
The mystery death of a pensioner in 2010 has been blamed on an 'inexplicable' phenomenon.
The inquiry into the death of a 76 year-old man found badly burned in his home just before Christmas last year, concluded yesterday that he had died unfathomably from spontaneous human combustion.
Michael Faherty, of Clareview Park, was found in his home in the aftermath of a fire. Crime scene photographs show how most of the living room remained unaffected by the fire apart from the area in which Mr Faherty was sitting.
Garda Gerard O’Callaghan of the divisional crime scene investigation unit who visited the preserved scene told the Inquest: "The 'seat' of the fire was around the body of Mr Faherty, and confined to this area – the rest of the house was smoke damaged.
"I took samples of the fire debris and forwarded them to the forensic science laboratory at Garda headquarters in Dublin to establish the presence of accelerants (eg. petrol, diesel, paraffin oil) – there were none found – and I found no evidence to suggest any foul play had occurred."
It was also noted that items such as a packet of matches, a mobile phone and a razor were obviously untouched by the fire.
Due to burning Mr Faherty’s lungs, stomach intestines, liver, heart and some of his bones where not present, and toxicology examinations could not be carried out on his blood or urine.
Pathologist, Dr Grace Callagy said:"The fire would need to be between 700-1,000°C to cremate bones."
She said, however, that there was no evidence of oedema in the lung – which the coroner explained meant that he did not suffer a heart attack – and there was no evidence of a haemorrhage.
It is also understood that no soot was found in the trachea or lungs which suggests Mr Faherty did not die from smoke inhalation and also he may not have been alive with the fire started.
The Coroner for West Galway, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin said: "I’m of the view that it fits in with spontaneous combustion, for which there is no scientific explanation."
He concluded: "This is the first such case that I have come across in my 25 years as coroner for West Galway."
(LB/GK)
The inquiry into the death of a 76 year-old man found badly burned in his home just before Christmas last year, concluded yesterday that he had died unfathomably from spontaneous human combustion.
Michael Faherty, of Clareview Park, was found in his home in the aftermath of a fire. Crime scene photographs show how most of the living room remained unaffected by the fire apart from the area in which Mr Faherty was sitting.
Garda Gerard O’Callaghan of the divisional crime scene investigation unit who visited the preserved scene told the Inquest: "The 'seat' of the fire was around the body of Mr Faherty, and confined to this area – the rest of the house was smoke damaged.
"I took samples of the fire debris and forwarded them to the forensic science laboratory at Garda headquarters in Dublin to establish the presence of accelerants (eg. petrol, diesel, paraffin oil) – there were none found – and I found no evidence to suggest any foul play had occurred."
It was also noted that items such as a packet of matches, a mobile phone and a razor were obviously untouched by the fire.
Due to burning Mr Faherty’s lungs, stomach intestines, liver, heart and some of his bones where not present, and toxicology examinations could not be carried out on his blood or urine.
Pathologist, Dr Grace Callagy said:"The fire would need to be between 700-1,000°C to cremate bones."
She said, however, that there was no evidence of oedema in the lung – which the coroner explained meant that he did not suffer a heart attack – and there was no evidence of a haemorrhage.
It is also understood that no soot was found in the trachea or lungs which suggests Mr Faherty did not die from smoke inhalation and also he may not have been alive with the fire started.
The Coroner for West Galway, Dr Ciaran MacLoughlin said: "I’m of the view that it fits in with spontaneous combustion, for which there is no scientific explanation."
He concluded: "This is the first such case that I have come across in my 25 years as coroner for West Galway."
(LB/GK)
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