Jon McGregor - Even the Dogs

All these questions we want to ask. But we can’t and. We say nothing. We sit in the van and wait. And the van drives through a gateway and into the backyard of the undertaker’s and they open the doors and carry Robert’s body away. We go with them. With him. What else can we do. They wash his body. Again. No one ever did that for him when he was alive and now. They bring in a coffin. A plain unvarnished plywood coffin. Nothing special. Nothing with trimmings and linings and a craftsman’s attention to. Nothing what no one’s been working on for days in the hot dusty sun with the snoring sound of the saw and the plane and the adze going chuck chuck chuck. Nothing like that for Robert now. Must be the biggest coffin they’ve got though but. With gloved hands they lay him in it. Lay him on the unlined wood. No pillow for his head. No funeral suit to cover his. What is it, shame. Misfortune. No one to pay for a suit he can wear in his. Environmental health paying for this but why would they pay for a suit. No one else. What about Laura. What money has she got anyway. She won’t want. Told them she’s said her goodbyes and all that and she don’t even. And what about Yvonne. Where is she anyway. We look at him in the coffin, his eyes closed and his hands folded awkwardly across his. There are more questions we want to. But we don’t. It’s too. We can’t and they put the lid over him and he’s gone. They screw the lid down and the sound of the electric screwdriver is loud in the room like the technician’s saw when she cut through his.

Coroner:. . report of his post-mortem examination, which I do not propose to disclose in its entirety in court today. Rather, I will pick out the most relevant points and then highlight the pathologist’s conclusion.

Firstly, toxicology tests on blood samples show no significant levels of alcohol, suggesting that the deceased had not been drinking in the twenty-four to forty-eight hour period prior to his death. The blood tests also found no evidence of cocaine or heroin or other what we might call recreational drugs.

Secondly and conversely, analysis of the liver itself shows extensive cirrhosis, which histological analysis shows to have been caused by alcohol; this indicates that the deceased had in general consumed excessive amounts of alcohol over a prolonged period of time. In the opinion of the pathologist, the blood found on the floor of the flat, and in the kitchen sink, is most likely to have resulted from vomiting caused by the advanced cirrhosis. Blood was found in the trachea, large airways and lungs, showing that Mr Radcliffe probably aspirated blood and vomit into his lungs prior to death.

Thirdly, examination of the lungs shows destruction of the airspaces, caused by prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke, which would have led to pronounced shortness of breath.

Fourthly, the pathologist found evidence of advanced heart disease, and narrowing of the coronary arteries by approximately seventy to eighty per cent. In simple terms, this means that the arteries supplying blood to the heart had become narrowed by fatty deposits, greatly depriving the heart muscle of oxygen and nutrients, which may have contributed to his death.

Fifthly, the pathologist found no food in Mr Radcliffe’s digestive system, suggesting that Mr Radcliffe hadn’t eaten anything for a period of approximately twenty-four to forty-eight hours before his death. This would not have been a cause of death — the human body can survive for much longer periods without food — but it’s quite possible that he had become weakened as a result.

Sixthly, there was extensive bruising found to Mr Radcliffe’s body, and some to his face. In the pathologist’s opinion, this bruising is consistent with that caused by falls rather than with acts of violence against him. The pathologist also notes the lack of defence injuries, and notes that there is no evidence of violence or struggle at the scene of death.

The final point made by the pathologist is something of an aside, in that there is no evidence of it being a contributory factor to Mr Radcliffe’s death. A fragment of metal was discovered in Mr Radcliffe’s skull, just behind his left ear. The pathologist also found what appeared to be an entry wound for this fragment, which was well healed and appeared to be a number of years old. Although the pathologist finds no evidence of this directly contributing to Mr Radcliffe’s death, he does note that a previous head injury can be a risk factor in alcohol withdrawal related seizure, which I’ll come on to in a moment.

The pathologist concludes that a number of factors may have caused or contributed to Mr Radcliffe’s death: chronic lung disease, the coronary artery disease, the bleeding from the gullet entering into the lungs, the lack of food and shortness of breath putting pressure on an already overworked heart. He also notes that Mr Radcliffe appears to have stopped drinking in the days prior to his death, and comments that it is known for long-term alcoholics who abruptly stop drinking to suffer epileptic seizure leading to death as a result. However, there is no way of ascertaining whether this has occurred from a post-mortem examination, and so the pathologist is only able to note the possibility.

This concludes my account of the pathologist’s report.

Before using these findings as a basis for the answer to our fourth question in court today, I would like to examine the circumstances around Mr Radcliffe’s death a little more closely. I therefore call our second witness this morning.

All these questions. Why did she ever go back and see her dad that first time. What took her back. What was so wrong with living at home. With her mum. With Paul. It was different though things had changed had they. When they first left Robert they lived with her nan for a while. And she liked her nan. She was close to her nan was she. Kept saying how good it was to have them back. Kept saying she’d always known Robert was trouble and they were much better off now. With her. And even when they moved into their own place her nan gave it all I’ll always be here for you you know that don’t you I’ll always be here. And then Paul. What. Stopping around the place more and more and then he was just there. And then her nan didn’t come round and they didn’t go round there and that was that. Who can you trust. Who can you fucking. And later Paul started going I don’t expect you to call me Dad that’s entirely up to you but I hope you’ll remember who’s been here all these years. And if she’d stayed at home. If she’d gone back to. The way all this came out when they were sitting around in their groups at that rehab place. Hadn’t thought about any of that for years and then. Had she. If she’d gone back to her mum’s. Would she. Was it just that she wanted to know. Was that all. Or did something else. Jesus. Laura sitting in the coroner’s court and all the questions they didn’t. Like. What did your father mean to you. Why did you ever go back to him then. What was it your mum did or didn’t do. And what about Paul. And what took you back to your father’s the second time. Once you’d seen him there and you knew. Did you think you could do something. Did you think you could save him. Or were you just desperate by then. After all the. Some kind of defeat or loss or. After those summers full of friends and fields and music and drugs and days and nights stretched out under boundless skies. Thinking nothing could go wrong. Thinking nothing could touch this. And then long winter nights shivering in a van on threatened sites full of mud and tat and travellers with nowhere left to go. Who’d had all the dreaming beaten out of them in that beanfield and given up on hoping for anything more than the next bag. And they called it a battle. First they came for the miners and then they. Could always get good gear but it wasn’t. She wanted. So what was it then she went trailing back to her dad. Thinking he’d what like come running out to meet her while she was still down the other end of the street or something. Was that what she. When instead he couldn’t hardly remember her name.