‘Eccentric’ but well-liked Hailsham man found dead in home

Christopher Green was described as reclusive but a character who had plenty of friends at an inquest at Eastbourne Town Hall on Thursday (September 5).

Speaking afterwards, the 76-year-old’s brother John Green said, “He was very reclusive, but well-liked. He was incredibly bright.

“People may have found him a bit eccentric, but that’s how he was. His perception of the world was different.”

He also said, “He was a great artist in his youth, a painter of some distinction.”

Mr Green’s friend of more than 30 years Karl Hopper-King was also present at the inquest.

Speaking to this newspaper, he said, “He was a really nice man. He was liked by a lot of people.

“He was a very strange but nice character, I will miss him.”

Mr Green’s GP said he had been diagnosed with benign schizophrenia. He lived alone at his flat in Downford House, George Street.

The inquest heard the last time the former draftsman had been seen was by a neighbour, who he had complained to about having an uncomfortable stomach pain.

It is believed he had been dead for a number of weeks before he was found by police officers on May 13 this year, after a neighbour noticed his post had been piling up.

DS Ross Bartlett, called to the stand, confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances.

A post mortem was unable to establish his cause of death due to severe decomposition.

East Sussex coroner Alan Craze concluded Mr Green had died of natural causes.