Coroner to probe case of 24-year-old Blackpool man who died after being found in distress on a building site
Hearing scheduled to be held at Blackpool Town Hall over three days from Tuesday
The inquest into the death of a 24-year-old Blackpool man who died by hanging three years ago is to be held at the resort’s Town Hall from Tuesday, August 25 and is scheduled to last three days.
Dylan McEwan Smith died on June 13, 2023, just hours after being returned home by a police officer who found him in distress on a building site.
His family say a security guard had called for help after finding the Dylan without shoes on at 5am, saying he wanted to kill himself.
They believe he should have been taken to hospital for mental health help instead of being dropped off at home - and hit out at Lancashire Police for dismissing an investigation into the events surrounding his death.
The inquest into Dylan’s death was opened and then adjourned in November 2023, pending the outcome of a possible police misconduct hearing.
But Dylan’s family were told earlier this year that the hearing had been formally discontinued because a key witness called by the officer concerned could not be traced.
It is understood that the officer concerned has since left the force and following the submission of a copy of the police investigation report to the Blackpool coroner’s office earlier this summer, assistant coroner Andrew Cousins set the date for the inquest.
Mr Cousins indicated at a review hearing held in June that it is likely to be an Article 2 inquest.
That is an enhanced investigation into a death which broadens the scope of the inquest, engaging the state’s procedural obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the right to life.
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It is triggered when there is an arguable breach of the state's positive duty to protect an individual’s life.
Dylan’s girlfriend Molly Cartmell has previously described Dylan as “a happy soul” who had never before spoken about suicide. She said the warehouse worker was her “best friend” and his passing would “leave a hole in my heart for the rest of my life.”
“He loved his friends and family to bits,” she added. “He was really a hard-working man and was always in employment.”