A coroner has ordered an investigation after a man was found decomposing in a house of multiple occupation (HMO).

Christopher Samuel, 58, was found dead on the border of Ilford and Barking on September 4, but is believed to have died much earlier.

The Metropolitan Police Service ruled his death non-suspicious, even though a court heard his body was so decomposed that no cause of death could be identified.

The East London Coroner’s Court will now mount an investigation to try to determine Mr Samuel’s cause of death.

Senior coroner Graeme Irvine has requested that the sergeant who decided Mr Samuel’s death was not suspicious supply a statement explaining his decision.

Mr Samuel was found dead in his room at a property in Henley Road, Mr Irvine told a brief inquest opening hearing on Thursday, October 24.

“The deceased was found upstairs in a room in a house of multiple occupancy,” he told the court.

“One of the residents has complained regarding an odour.”

When a woman entered Mr Samuel’s room to investigate, said the coroner, she found his body on the floor beside his bed.

There were “clear signs of significant decomposition and also significant insect infestation.”

Mr Samuel was identified by police “through a mosaic of different types of evidence,” said Mr Irvine, and a post-mortem examination was carried out on September 11.

“Regrettably, due to the extent of the decomposition, no clear cause of death has been offered,” he said.

Mr Irvine said Mr Samuel’s family should be declared an interested party in the inquest, giving them the right to interrogate evidence and question witnesses.

He asked coroner’s officer Jean Smyth to obtain a “background statement” from the family, setting out “who the deceased was in life, when the last interaction was held with Mr Samuel so I can ascertain when he was last seen alive, and any concerns that they have about the death.”

The inquest date was set for March 3, 2025.