A young plasterer, upset when his relationship wit

A young plasterer, upset when his relationship with a girlfriend
soured, died in a fume-filled car, Southwark Coroners Court heard
on Tuesday.

The inquest into his tragic death was told that she was too
distraught to give evidence about how their ‘stormy’ relationship
broke down.

Twenty-four-year-old Michael Cronin of Belvoir Road, Dulwich,
was found dead in the driver’s seat of a carbon monoxide fume
filled car on 17 August this year.

He left behind two suicide notes, one to his girlfriend
saying: ‘I hope you believe me now’, and another to his parents
saying that he would be ‘happier now.

‘
His grieving father, Brendan Cronin, also of Belvoir Road,
said that he knew his son’s relationship with Sophie Harrison-
Knibbs had ‘soured’ but did not realise how upset he had become.

PC Paul Hilliard discovered the dead man’s car, engine
still running, in a private road near their home at 4.

50am.

He told the inquest: ‘He was slumped across
the driver and passenger seat and the car was filled with car
exhaust fumes.

‘On inspection I saw that he had attached some rubber
tubing from the exhaust pipe and fed it through the slightly
ajar hatchback,’ he said.

The court heard that Mr Cronin showed no signs of life but
may only have been dead for a couple of hours.

Recording a verdict that he killed himself, coroner
Sir Montague Levine assured his family that he would have
suffered little pain.

‘This method may sound horrific, with visions of
struggling inside the car, but it is often said that carbon
monoxide is like an anaesthetic.

‘He would probably have lost consciousness within minutes
and gone into a coma.

‘
Sir Montague told relatives that nobody could be blamed
for the tragedy, saying:
‘At this age, many relationships sour, for one reason or
another, and it is often the case that one member of the couple
will be more deeply affected than the other.

‘
His distraught girlfriend was excused attendance at
the inquest.

ENDS