The family of a much-loved musician found dead in mysterious circumstances admit they will \u201cnever truly know\u201d how he died.<\/p>\n
Paramedics discovered Ben Wright, who played the drums in local bands, lying face down under a table at his bungalow in Cobham Close, Canterbury.<\/p>\n
Ben Wright was found dead in a bungalow in Canterbury. Picture: Facebook<\/p>\n
They initially suspected foul play but this was later ruled out.<\/p>\n
A coroner this week concluded the 42-year-old Pizza Express worker\u2019s cause of death was \u201cunascertained\u201d, meaning it remains a mystery.<\/p>\n
Speaking to KentOnline after the inquest, his brother Dan said: \u201cI have mixed emotions.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn one hand, I’m very happy we can rule out suicide \u2013 that was one thing that was really worrying me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can also rule out anything malicious, so that\u2019s good.<\/p>\n
Ben Wright (front right) pictured with brother Dan (back right), his sister-in-law Francine (centre) and fictional horror author Garth Marenghi. Picture: Facebook<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I guess it\u2019s going to be one of those mysteries where we\u2019re never going to truly know.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like he didn\u2019t suffer, so that\u2019s one thing I will take away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone heard how, on March 2, Dan asked neighbour Deborah Johnson to check on his brother after days of silence.<\/p>\n
She arrived at the bungalow and discovered Ben\u2019s manager from Pizza Express in Canterbury outside the property, as he had not come into work.<\/p>\n
They managed to gain access but soon made the tragic find.<\/p>\n
Mystery surrounds Ben Wright’s death after he was found lying on his bedroom floor in Canterbury. Picture: Facebook<\/p>\n
Coroner Sarah Clarke told the hearing: \u201cDeborah was calling out [Ben\u2019s] name and once she saw him she realised there was nothing she could do.<\/p>\n
\u201cParamedics say they found him lying in the bedroom on the floor under a table near some extension plugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Clarke said the paramedics \u201cinitially thought there were some suspicious circumstances\u201d given the position Ben was found in.<\/p>\n
But police \u201cwere satisfied with their inspection of the house\u201d and there were no injuries found on his body that suggested foul play.<\/p>\n
The house was described as untidy and a bit cluttered, but there were no signs of disturbance. Folders and bills were found lying on the bed.<\/p>\n
Ben Wright has been described as the \u201cmost amazing, wonderful\u201d sibling after he died in Canterbury. Picture: Facebook<\/p>\n
The coroner said: \u201cHis head was on a pillow, so [paramedics] were thinking it was a medical incident where he\u2019d made himself comfortable then passed away on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pathologist investigated a potential overdose of antidepressants, but sertraline levels were found to be at a normal dose.<\/p>\n
There was nothing else, such as drugs or alcohol, found in his system, and there was no natural cause of death or infections discovered.<\/p>\n
Ms Clarke added: \u201cSomebody had heard him coughing loudly and excessively on the Thursday night before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pathologist suggested the idea of positional asphyxia, which occurs when a person’s body position prevents them from breathing adequately, and also sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, which is an unexpected death from a cardiac arrest.<\/p>\n
A coroner ruled Canterbury musician Ben Wright’s cause of death to be “unascertained”. Picture: Facebook<\/p>\n
But there was not enough evidence, and the doctor told the coroner the cause of death was unascertained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis doesn\u2019t help with your family understanding what happened,\u201d Ms Clarke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it does rule things out.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t an overdose. I also accessed his mental health records, but he was functioning in life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last time they [mental health services] appeared to have spoken to him was June 18, 2024, when he was quite positive with them, saying things were okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Wright\u2019s inquest was heard at Oakwood House in Maidstone<\/p>\n
Dan, who travelled down from Stoke-on-Trent with his wife Francine, said Ben had been in \u201cgood spirits\u201d when he last saw him in February.<\/p>\n
The coroner ruled out suicide, finding no note or evidence he had taken his own life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone was surprised we couldn\u2019t find [a cause of death], but it does happen,\u201d Ms Clarke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSudden cardiac deaths can happen in infants and adults.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coroner gave an open conclusion and said Ben\u2019s cause of death was \u201cunascertained\u201d.<\/p>\n
He was a very loved person and he would just get on with everyone\u2026<\/p>\n
Paying tribute to his brother, who was a huge Liverpool FC fan, Dan said: \u201cHe was genuinely one of the most amazing, wonderful human beings, and very talented and very funny.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always had a dad joke, and no matter how cheesy it was, it always made me laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did a lot of running, and between the two of us, he was the more athletic of the two.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always tried to do his bit to fundraise for charity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben had also worked in care homes as a carer for many years before gaining employment at Pizza Express a couple of months before he died.<\/p>\n
The former pupil of the Abbey School in Faversham was also a gifted musician who played at pubs and clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played drums in a few bands for many years,\u201d Dan added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t actually think he knew how talented he was, but he absolutely loved music.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a very loved person and he would just get on with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dan, 44, says their mum died last year, Ben passed in March, and he lost his dad in June, so it has been a \u201cheavy\u201d year for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he’s up now there with Mum and Dad, and he’s looking after them again, so I can take some refuge in that,\u201d Dan added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of a much-loved musician found dead in mysterious circumstances admit they will \u201cnever truly know\u201d how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[980,59,192,12178,191,194,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-49965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-canterbury","tag-gb","tag-human-interest","tag-inquests","tag-kent","tag-syndicate","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}