Body found in hotel basement

A mental-health nurse was found dead in a cupboard in the basement of the Radisson Edwardian Marlborough hotel, London, an inquest was told last week.

Back of house manager Enoch Akyeanpong discovered the body last November in an area that drug addicts and down-and-outs had broken in to before. At first it did not occur to Akyeanpong that the person might be dead. "I was shocked when they told me. They gave me a few days off," he said.

Duty manager Amia Ismail said: "I was completely shocked. It was the first time in my life that I have seen a dead person. It's not something you expect to happen at work. I had to deal with it quickly and professionally without letting other staff or guests know. Ten police cars arrived almost immediately."

The police found a syringe near the body. Brian Daryl Buckley, 36, of 8d Peabody Court, Clerkenwell, London, had died from a morphine overdose. The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.