New Milton man died of deadly flesh eating bug after suffering facial injuries he claimed he got in an attack

A MAN who died of a flesh-eating bug after suffering facial injuries told an NHS call centre just days before that he was scared of a “nightmare neighbour” who allegedly “terrorised” the estate he lived on.

Christopher Homer (43), of Parham Close in New Milton, was killed by necrotising fasciitis, a deadly infection which was sparked by multiple fractures of his face, including a broken nose.

A hearing at Winchester Coroners’ Court revealed the injuries led to the infection taking hold and, despite an eight-hour operation to save him, he died within days of contracting it.

In a statement, Mr Homer’s mother Marion, who also lives in New Milton, said her son turned up at her house on 27th August last year with two black eyes.

She said Mr Homer, who was an alcoholic, told her he “could not remember” what had happened.

But in a call to 111 two days later, he told the operator: “I’ve got a nightmare neighbour like what you see on the TV, he keeps kicking my door.

“I think I just went out there and he just kept hitting me.”

The inquest heard that Mr Homer said he had a sore throat and swollen glands, but he refused to go to A&E.

On 31st August he phoned his GP and was prescribed antibiotics but never collected them. A day later he was rushed to hospital after suffering a seizure.

Doctors discovered he had sepsis and necrotising fasciitis. A team of surgeons battled to save his life, removing all of the affected muscle and tissue in his neck – but he died a day later.

A post-mortem revealed he also had a rib fracture, but a pathologist could not rule out a fall as also being a cause of them.

A police investigation was launched following Mr Homer’s death. At the hearing, DC Robert Munro said officers had interviewed the man Mr Homer had accused of hitting him, and he denied it, even claiming Mr Homer had once rushed at him while holding two knives.

DC Munro said the flats of both Mr Homer and his neighbour were searched by forensic experts, and clothing was also examined.

But he said no evidence of blood, or anything indicating an assault had taken place had been found.

DC Munro said that although Mr Homer had told friends and a taxi driver that he had been assaulted, he had also told people he had been “drunk” and could not remember what had happened.

The officer said that with no eyewitness reports of an assault, no CCTV and no forensics evidence, a senior investigating officer had decided the case could not go to the Crown Prosecution Service as there was “insufficient evidence for securing a conviction”.

Speaking after DC Munro finished his evidence, Mrs Homer – referring to the man her son claimed had hit him – said: “He has terrorised everybody but he always gets away with it. He’s a nasty piece of work.”

Her other son Jonathan said that although the family “do not want anybody innocent charged with murder, we are not going to get closure”.

He said that he hoped police, whom he praised for their “thorough work”, would keep the case open “in case any evidence comes up in the future”.

Ruling that Mr Homer had died of natural causes as a result of the infection, area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp said: “It could have been an assault or equally could have been through falling over and hitting something badly. We just don’t know.”

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Homer paid tribute to her son: “He weighed only 4lb 15oz when he was born; he was always special to me.

“He was a very loving, happy person. He would never get involved in trouble.”