Southampton: Coroner's inquest into death of Leszak Migdal

Leszak Migdal, 52, also known as Piotr or Peter, was found dead outside Freemantle United Reform Church, where he had been sleeping rough, on August 19, 2023.

About three weeks after his death, a then 46-year-old was arrested in connection with the death after confessing during an unrelated police interview.

A murder investigation was opened, but later dropped.

Police investigating at the scene in 2023 (Image: Newsquest)

Pathologist Dr Basil Purdue told the coroner that Mr Migdal suffered a subdermal hematoma (SDH), where blood collects between the skull and brain, most likely due to external trauma.

Mr Migdal had also suffered a broken collarbone and damage to several ribs, which Dr Purdue said were consistent with a fall.

Dr Purdue explained that he believed Mr Migdal had suffered a fall sometime during that day, causing the SDH, which gradually became worse and worse over time.

READ MORE: Southampton homeless man cause of death revealed in inquest

He then either went to sleep or lost consciousness at the church, only being awoken by a small fire, likely caused by his smoking.

After extinguishing the fire and beginning to remove his melted clothes, Mr Migdal is then assumed to have succumbed to the SDH, losing consciousness before dying.

Dr Purdue also noted that Mr Migdal's history of alcohol addiction includes several incidents of accidental self-injury

Inspector David West explained that the murder investigation had been sparked when, several weeks after Mr Migdal died, a man being interviewed for unrelated domestic offences admitted to killing him.

Mr West quoted the suspect saying in a police interview: "I murdered a homeless guy, a Polish guy, three weeks ago."

In later police interviews, he recanted his confession.

READ MORE: Southampton: Tributes paid to 'murdered' rough sleeper

The resulting murder investigation turned up CCTV footage from the Rovers Inn, which sits across the road from the church.

However, the CCTV footage was obscured by a parked van.

Mr West said: "It is a great source of frustration that we cannot see beyond that van, because that would fill our gap in our understanding."

Mr West adds that two men can be seen stopping in front of the church, believed to be Mr Migdal and someone who police "reasonably believe" was the suspect, but the van blocked too much of the view to know what happened.

Mr West concluded that there was "insufficient evidence" to bring about a murder prosecution, which is why he ended the investigation.

Coroner Nicholas Walker ruled that the cause of death "on the balance of probabilities" was accidental, stating that there was a lack of evidence to suggest any third-person involvement.

Sister's tribute: "He was a warm, kind person."

During the inquest, Mr Migdal's sister Monika Migdal voiced frustrations at the lack of certainty about what killed her brother.

Monika told the coroner that her brother had moved to the UK looking for better opportunities to support his family, including his now 15-year-old daughter and 19-year-old son.

She said: "He was a warm, kind person. Happy.

"Of course, like you know, he had a difficult childhood, but he was always calm, always supportive. Very hard working and organised.

"He was always the main breadwinner for his family. Unfortunately for him, circumstances made his decisions not always the right ones in his life.

"He loved music. That was his escape from his reality. He made a real band called Danger Zone.

"All of us can see that the end of his life was quite rough.

"As family and friends pushed him to move back to Poland, I think he had a feeling like he had failed.

"He was willing to do rehabilitation because he wanted to get back on his feet and restart his relationships with his son and daughter."