A retired toilet cleaner with ‘feelings of alienat

A retired toilet cleaner with ‘feelings of alienation’ told
casualty doctors that he had swallowed 100 Paracetamol painkillers,
an inquest heard today Wednesday.

The divorced father of twins of Elmside, Exeter, died in
Kings College Hospital, London, after a massive overdose of
the over the counter pain killer caused his heart to stop,
Southwark Coroners Court was told.

Exeter psychiatric nurse John Middleton told the inquest that
George Knee, 54, suffered terrible mood swings which were
sometimes aggressive.

‘His mother had committed suicide when he was a child and he
carried a burden of guilt and failure,’ he said, adding: ‘He
had feelings of alienation.

‘
The court was told that he had threatened to take
his life in April last year when he swallowed rat poison but failed
to carry through his intention of also throwing himself in front of
a lorry.

Mr Middleton said that Mr Knee, who was born in Limpstone,
Devon, had said he would never commit suicide because he knew the
damage it would cause to his children.

On August 24 this year he was found in bed by a friend
who said his voice was slurred.

He was taken to the Royal Exeter and Devon Hospital and then
transferred to the internationally famous liver unit at Kings
College Hospital where he tragically died two days later.

Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said that he could not confirm
how many pills Mr Knee had swallowed but that the effect had been to
kill the liver and bring on kidney and respiratory failure.

The Paracetamol had also caused acute ulcers in his stomach,
he said.

Coroner Sir Montague Levine said that the overdose may have
been ‘a cry for help’ rather than a true suicide attempt and recorded
an open verdict into his death.

None of Mrs Knee’s family attended the inquest.

ENDS