THE mysteries surrounding the death of Newent farmer David Dennis unravelled before a Gloucestershire Coroner’s Court with a complexity that would have baffled even Hercule Poirot.

Mr Dennis’s badly burned body was found seated at his kitchen table with his half eaten dinner in front of him at Aylesmore Farm, Castle Tump, Newent.

But a Home Office pathologist was unable to decide which of two most likely causes of death was responsible for his demise - a drug overdose or a heart seizure.

An autopsy revealed that his body contained a potentially fatal level of the veterinary tranquilliser ketamine.

However, although a large syringe was found nearby, there was no trace of an injection mark on his body.

The 68-year-old farmer was also said to have two estranged sons, one of whom had allegedly tried to run him over and a second who had allegedly threatened to kill him.

Police also learnt that, on the day before his death, Mr Dennis had been in an angry dispute over money with a workman who was cutting trees on his land.

The plot was further muddied when it was suggested to police that Mr Dennis’s partner Judy Barrington - who had served him with his dinner and then found him dead the next morning - stood to gain from his will.

But at the end of the inquest into Mr Dennis’s mystifying death, the Gloucestershire coroner Katie Skerrett said she found, on the balance of probabilities, that he died from either natural causes or from ketamine.

"In all probability this was an accidental fire after the ’main event,” she said.

Home Office pathologist Dr Andrew Davison said that on balance, he believed Mr Dennis had died before the fire began.

Det Sgt Jonathan Williams told the inquest that no evidence could be found to suggest that either of Mr Dennis’s sons or the workman had been involved in the death.

He also said that, as the bulk of Mr Dennis’s estate was going to a charity, there was no apparent reason for any ill will towards him from Ms Barrington.