A RETIRED panel-beater died a week after falling in the kitchen of his Four Marks home, an inquest heard.

Widower Gordon Snelson, who lived alone in Hawthorn Road, died on August 15, eight days after visiting his GP because he’d banged his head in the accident.

A post mortem found that the 83-year-old had a large blood clot on his brain.

The court heard how Mr Snelson had been diagnosed with dementia and had suffered a series of falls in recent years, one of which had hospitalised him.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, senior Winchester coroner Grahame Short said: “A very minor trauma can lead to the blood starting to build up in the head.”