Man’s body undiscovered for two months

Date published: 18 March 2010

A JAMAICAN-born grandfather died alone in his Glodwick flat and his body lay undiscovered for up to two months.

John Barthley (72) was a popular member of the community and enjoyed socialising at the West Indian Club in Greengate Street, an Oldham inquest heard yesterday.

He moved to Oldham in the late 1980s but dreamed of one day returning to his homeland.

Mr Barthley kept in touch with his daughter, Ruth Douglas, who lives in Bristol, by letter and did not have any family living near by.

Miss Jacqueline Stirling, who became friends with Mr Barthley in the early 1990s, used to see him regularly and would often run errands for him.

In January, 2009, Miss Stirling became concerned as she had not seen John for several months so she contacted the police.

Officers forced entry into Mr Barthley’s flat in Picton Square on January 16 and found his badly decomposed body on the sofa.

There were dozens of newspapers on the floor in the living room with the most recent one bought on November 13, 2008.

A post-mortem examination could not find a definitive cause for Mr Barthley’s death and coroner Lisa Hashmi recorded a verdict of unascertained.