Coroner delivers verdict on father found in Black Country street
Head injuries found on a businessman found lying in a Wolverhampton street were consistent with him having interaction with a motor vehicle than any other explanation, the inquest has found.
After being dropped off by colleagues in a taxi following a night out, father-of-one Michael Bland was found lying unresponsive on the ground with blood on his face near his home by a passer-by in Old Hill, in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, shortly after 3.50am on April 28, 2023.
On Wednesday recording a narrative conclusion at the resumed inquest Black Country Assistant Coroner Joanne Lees said: "On the balance of probabilities, Mr Bland's injuries were consistent with him having interaction with a motor vehicle than any other explanation."
She told the hearing held at Oldbury that it was unknown what exactly happened to the 49-year-old businessman, who ran Prosperity Payroll, relating to how he came to be on the ground, how he came to sustain the brain injury, and how his mobile phone and jumper came to be lying on the ground away from where he was found. The inquest heard that at the time there was no CCTV coverage in the part of the street where he was found and there were no eyewitnesses.
Mrs Lees said he was last seen on CCTV walking towards his home address at 2.42am. "Exactly what happened to him after that and how he came to be lying down is unknown, but he died from head injuries. Mr Bland died from head injuries as a result of interaction with a motor vehicle."
