An obsessive-compulsive recluse nicknamed "The Dettol Man" died after continually cleaning himself and his home with the disinfectant, according to testimony given at a British inquest last week.Recluse Jacques Niemand may have been overcome by fumes from the dozens of bottles of the cleaning fluid he kept in his flat. The 42-year-old had so much of the chemical in his system his body was starved of oxygen, the inquest was told.
More than 100 bottles of Dettol were found crammed in a suitcase at Niemand's home. Several buckets containing the fluid were also found. His sister, Ruth Bain, said the man had suffered from an obsessive cleaning disorder for years and she would not go into his home because it was 'stifling'.
Several police officers who went into the flat in Didsbury, Manchester, following Niemand's death later went on sick leave with severe headaches after apparently being overpowered by the smell of cleaning products.
Pathologist Lorna McWilliam said it was difficult to say if the chemical got into Niemand's system because he had breathed it in or drank it. 'I cannot be sure his death arose through using an excessive amount at one time – but I suspect there must be an element of that,' she told the hearing in Manchester.
But deputy coroner Leonard Gorodkin rejected any suggestion that Niemand killed himself and recorded a verdict of misadventure.
Niemand's sister Ruth said care in the community had failed her brother. She added: 'We were struggling to get help for my brother and trying to get his life back in order when he died.'
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