Man dies after swallowing coins

AN INQUEST heard that a man who could not stop himself from eating unusual objects died soon after an operation on his bowel.

Dewi Evans suffered from a condition called pica which is an abnormal appetite or craving for substances that are not fit to eat.

The operation discovered a paper towel, a screw, a magnet and 54p in change inside his distended bowel.

Mr Evans, 61, had been a patient at the Hensol psychiatric hospital in Pontyclun, south Wales, from the age of six.

He was transferred to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant on June 24, 2003, after complaining of stomach pain.

Susan Miller, the deputy manager at Hensol Hospital, told the inquest: “Mr Evans had very specialist care needs.

“An additional fence had to be erected around the hospital to prevent him from absconding and looking for items to digest."

The inquest in Pontypridd heard that four days after the various objects were removed during the operation at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Mr Evans died.

David Stock, a consultant pathologist, found the primary cause of death to be coronary heart disease and the secondary cause was an obstruction of the small bowel.

Coroner Philip Walters recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.