Ricky Hatton inquest to discover ultimate days as buddy who discovered him speaks out
Former world champion boxer Ricky Hatton was found dead at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester, last September aged 46, with the full inquest into his death beginning on Friday
An inquest into Hatton’s death will re-open on Friday(Image: PA)
A full inquest into the death of former world champion boxer Ricky Hatton will start today. The British sporting icon was discovered dead aged 46 at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester, on September 14 last year, sending shockwaves through the boxing world.
Officers stated at the time that no suspicious circumstances were believed to surround the tragedy, but passed Hatton’s death to the coroner. An inquest into the fighter’s death was subsequently opened in October, with the hearing at South Manchester Coroners’ Court in Stockport seeing senior coroner Alison Mutch provide the provisional cause of death as ‘hanging’.
The inquest was then postponed until March 20 (Friday), with additional details of his final days and the circumstances leading to his death now expected to be revealed as the full inquest gets underway.
Inquests are initiated by coroners when there is reasonable cause to suspect that a death has occurred due to anything other than natural causes. Whilst there is no precise legal definition of a ‘natural’ cause of death, it is generally described as “death due to a disease running its full course with no other intervening factors”.
This follows revelations from Hatton’s friend and manager Paul Speak, who discovered the boxing legend’s body after arriving at his house to take him to the airport, disclosing “the truth” about what happened to him, reports Wales Online.
“The lights weren’t on, which I thought was strange,” Speak told Boxing News after news of Hatton’s death broke. “I thought he’d overslept, but it’s not unusual. People do oversleep.
“So, I went inside – I have a key – shouting, ‘Rick, Rick, wake up! I heard music coming from upstairs, so I went upstairs… I took a look at him… I had to take some time to process it.
“I was in a state of shock and confusion and loss and many more emotions,” he added. “Then I called the police and the ambulance. But I firmly believe he didn’t intend to do it. It’s for the coroner to determine, but he had it all to live for.”
Insisting that Hatton – who had been candid about his battles with mental health in recent years – had been “in a really good place” prior to his sudden death, Speak continued: “He’d arranged to take his daughters to see Oasis next week.
“He was planning to go to Thailand for the WBC convention and a holiday after his fight. He’d just booked a flight to Tenerife for Christmas. I want to get the truth out, otherwise people will just speculate.”
Thousands of mourners packed the streets of Manchester to honour Hatton before his funeral service at the city’s cathedral in October, with Wayne Rooney and Liam Gallagher amongst those in attendance.
During the service, the former champion boxer’s 13 year old daughter Millie delivered a heartbreaking eulogy, asking him “why didn’t you reach out?”.
Speaking to the crowded cathedral, she said: “I can’t help but think about how you will never walk me down the aisle, how you will never meet my children and your grandchildren, how you won’t be here to see me leave school or even see me grow into an adult.
“Why did you feel that way? Why didn’t you reach out about how you felt? I genuinely hope you don’t ever think you have let me down, because I would never think that. I love and miss you unconditionally.”
