Family: We believed death was suspicious and started our own investigation

We did our own investigation, that's just us."

These are the words of a devastated family who launched their own investigation into the death of father-of-six Stephen Phillips after they doubted he had died of natural causes.

Police originally thought Mr Phillips had died accidentally when he was found by his son Barry on March 12 last year at his Wolverhampton flat, because he was a 'heavy drinker', an inquest heard on Thursday.

His family rushed down to the 54-year-old's home on Dudley Road and were told by police the death was 'not suspicious'.

Mr Phillips' partner Tina Furey, speaking at the hearing in Smethwick, said: "My son Barry phoned me and was really distressed. He was screaming saying 'dad was dead'.

"Everything was pandemonium. We went down to Steve's flat and had to wait outside, the police and ambulance were there.

"We were told we had to wait in case of any criminal investigation. We were all standing outside the flat and the inspector came down and said we would be allowed up in a minute because he died of natural causes. The police told me that.

"I went up and all the kids followed. It was dark and there were no lights on. We just seen him sprawled on the bed."

Miss Furey said later that day the family searched the flat themselves and discovered Mr Phillips' two mobile phones were missing so they contacted the police immediately. They were also concerned about injuries they had seen on his face, the inquest heard.

Miss Furey said they 'conducted their own investigation' and started questioning people in the area writing everything down in a book.

She said: "We didn't discover a lot. People weren't talking. Quite a few people were saying different things. Someone said Steve was in a betting shop the morning after he died. So people were lying about him."

Detective Inspector Justin Spanner, also giving evidence on Thursday, said Mr Phillips had been drinking heavily the night of March 11 and the injuries were consistent with someone who could have fallen over.

"Those impressions gave the image of an accidental death", he added.

A post-mortem later discovered Mr Phillips had suffered 'external and internal' injuries which a pathologist concluded were suspicious.

A further forensic post-mortem found that the father, and grandfather to four, had suffered blows to the front and back of his head which were consistent with an 'accelerated fall backwards following an assault'.

A second pathologist said Mr Phillips would have bled 'profusely' from an injury to his lip but the bleeding may have abated by the time he got home which is why very little blood was discovered at the flat.

Police immediately launched a murder inquiry working on the theory he was robbed on the night of March 11 for his mobile phones and assaulted, before returning home and succumbing to his injuries.

Officers conducted a wide-scale search of the area with sniffer dogs searching for blood but nothing was found. Although DI Spanner said there had been inclement weather which would have likely washed any evidence away.

The last sighting of Mr Phillips was captured on CCTV about 22.55pm on March 11. The footage showed him limping while he was walking his dog Beauty near to his home.

One of his mobile phones, a Blackberry, was later traced to a property in All Saints Road in Wolverhampton and the owner was arrested by police and remains a 'key witness' in the ongoing investigation.

Five people have been detained as part of the inquiry so far and two remain on police bail.

DI Spanner said police were awaiting results from mobile phone analysis and were in discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service with a view to making charges in the next couple of months.

Senior Coroner Zafar Siddique returned an 'open conclusion' when trying to establish the legal cause of Mr Phillips' death on Thursday.

He said despite the Wolverhampton man's 'precarious' lifestyle there was not enough evidence to state the death was an accident, but added he could not conclude 'beyond reasonable doubt' that an unlawful killing had taken place.

Following the decision Miss Furey said: "We just love him and miss him so much. We are the ones who have got to live with this now.

"We felt something was wrong when we seen the body and the phones were missing. We did our own investigation, that's just us. Then when the police did the post-mortem that's when they said it could be murder."

She added: "Steve was just a loving and caring person who never deserved what he went through. He was a funny man with a good sense of humour. All of the family shared in that."