Laurence Dabbs

Laurence Dabbs was found unconscious in his fume filled car at his home in Heanor Road, Ilkeston, and died about three weeks later after being admitted to hospital twice and discharged twice.

His death was originally treated as suicide, however, an inquest later ruled that his death was unlawful.

It was heard that he had changed his will a month before his death, leaving most of his £2m estate to his neighbour.

Laurence Dabbs was found in his fume filled car in Ilkeston, Derbyshire on 25 August 1996 and taken to hospital. He was later discharged on 31 August 1996, but readmitted within hours in an unconscious state. He was later discharged on 13 September 1996, but was found dead within six hours of that.

Laurence Dabbs had been a wealthy widower and a retired business man.

It was initially thought that he had committed suicide, but a forensic examination of the tape used to attach the hosepipe to his car exhaust was found to have been applied by someone wearing gloves.

His neighbours had struck up a friendship with Laurence Dabbs in the early 1990s, they included the main beneficiary and his parents. The beneficiary was questioned over Laurence Dabbs's death, but no charges were made.

Following the inquest, the beneficiary said that he would seek a judicial review of the verdict, adding:

Following the inquest, the police said they would be submitting a new report to the Crown Prosecution Service in light of the new evidence.

At the inquest the Coroner asked the jury to consider whether Laurence Dabbs's will could have provided a motive for his murder, or whether he had been simply putting his affairs in order before he took his own life.

It was heard that Laurence Dabbs had been in constant pain from a previous shingles attack and had spoken of suicide if his condition did not improve.

He had spent the last three weeks of his life in hospital after collapsing twice into a coma and the doctors had been unable to pinpoint the problem, but suspected that he had either taken an overdose of his medication or had suffered a stroke.

The hospital staff sad that Laurence Dabbs had been looking forward to going home and had left in good spirits. He had also donated £300 towards ward funds.

Laurence Dabbs was found by his neighbour, the beneficiary, after he had gone to check up on him, after which he raised the alarm.

It was initially thought that he had committed suicide until it was determined that there were no fingerprints on the tape, and that additionally there were traces of glove marks.

Laurence Dabbs had first met his neighbours in 1990 when they sold him a piece of his garden for him to build his £200,000 retirement home on and they afterwards grew close.

Laurence Dabbs also gave the beneficiary several thousand pounds and helped his partner to finance a hairdressing business with a flat above for them to live in.

However, it was also heard that Laurence Dabbs had latterly discovered that his bungalow didn't actually belong to him as that piece of land that he had built it on had never been transferred to his name. It was heard that in the spring of 1996 he began talking of moving nearer to his family in Boston, Lincolnshire and that if he had tried to have sold his home that the discrepancy would have come to light.

His will was then changed on 18 August 1996, a month before his death, making his neighbour the main beneficiary of £2m.

Under cross-examination at the inquest, the neighbour consistently denied harming Laurence Dabbs, however, he admitted to having forged cheques totalling £5,000 during Laurence Dabbs's second stay in hospital. However, the neighbour said that he had power of attorney and that Laurence Dabbs had asked him to cash the cheques, noting that they were to cover expenses for refurbishing the flat above the hair salon.

The inquest also heard that the neighbour, who had been a law student, had asked his bank for an increase of his overdraft on 30 August 1996, the day that Laurence Dabbs was released from hospital the first time, and that he had told the manager that he was going to inherit more than a million pounds from a sick uncle.

The neighbour told the inquest that he had not harmed Laurence Dabbs, and said that on the two occasions he had found him unconscious that if he had wanted him dead that all he would have had to have done was walk straight out the door.

When the police made a statement outside the inquest, they noted that they had been working on the case for the previous two years and would be submitting a further file for the Crown Prosecution Service based on the new evidence that had come out at the inquest.

The neighbour later made a statement outside his flat in Roper Avenue, Heanor, saying:

His solicitor later said that the neighbour had only been able to afford representation for the last few days of the inquest, whilst the police and Laurence Dabbs's family had been represented by counsel throughout and that they had since been instructed to apply for a judicial review, for which legal aid was available.

He said: