Overview
- Robert Brown, 57, was found slumped on a bench beside a canal footpath in Northampton on 1 August last year with blood visible through the seat gaps.
- Police launched a major murder probe that included searches of the River Nene and three arrests, but detectives closed the investigation in February and released those detained without charge.
- Forensic analysis presented at the inquest showed a single‑edged five‑inch (13cm) blade cut through Brown’s rucksack and three layers of coat, produced a roughly 3cm wound, carried traces of fibres matching his clothing and contained a high amount of his DNA.
- Senior Coroner Anne Pember concluded in June that Brown’s death was accidental, finding the likely mechanism was that he fell asleep while intoxicated and rolled onto the knife, and a post‑mortem had given acute blood loss from a left upper‑arm wound as the provisional cause.
- Bereaved family and his partner paid tribute to Brown’s personality and grief is ongoing, and police say the forensic findings left no evidence of a third‑party motive so no one will be charged.