Chanan Singh

Chanan Singh died following a car accident on 19 August 1960. However, it was said that his death had nothing to do with the accident.

He had lived in lodgings in Welford Road, Handsworth and died in a coma six days after the accident.

However, his inquest heard that the cause of his death was a mystery.

He had been struck by the car in Soho Road, Handsworth on 19 August 1960 and had been treated in hospital for a trivial wound to his scalp and then sent home where he was attended by a local doctor.

However, he was re-admitted to Dudley Road Hospital on 25 August 1960 after lodgers broke into his room and found him in a coma.

He died two hours after admission.

A house surgeon at the hospital said that when Chanan Singh was re-admitted that he was deeply unconscious and showing signs normally associated with severe head injuries or narcotic poisoning.

However, a man with the West Midland Forensic Science Laboratory said that he could find no trace of drugs on analysis apart from a drug used for the treatment of asthma from which he suffered.

The pathologist that carried out his post mortem said that the cause of Chanan Singh's death must remain uncertain in the absence of conditions consistent with a coma, adding, 'But in my opinion, the injury to this man's head in the car accident had nothing to do with his death'.