Norfolk coroner, William Armstrong, at the Coroner's Court.

Inquest opened and adjourned into deaths of Norfolk couple

Saturday, February 16, 2013
10:28 AM

An inquest has been opened and adjourned into the deaths of a couple who were found deceased in the same house in a seaside village on the Norfolk coast.

The bodies of Barry Ellis, 71, and his wife Jean, 69, were discovered by police in Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, on Tuesday lunchtime when officers forced their way into their detached bungalow at Upper Grange Crescent following concerns about their safety.

An inquest opened in at the coroner’s offices in Thorpe Road, Norwich yesterday heard the couple, both retired market traders, were found in the living room with no sign of life.

Norfolk Coroner William Armstrong said: “Paramedics attended and confirmed life extinct. The precise causes of death haven’t yet been established. A post-mortem examination has taken place but further tests are being carried out.”

But Mr Armstrong, who adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed, said the deaths were “completely uncontroversial” and added there were no suspicious circumstances.

As previously reported, Norfolk police initially said they were treating the two deaths as unexplained and the house was sealed off to allow police officers to carry on with their investigations.

However police have since confirmed the deaths are not being treated as suspicious and said there is no evidence the couple had died from carbon monoxide poisoning as had been speculated upon.