Mentally ill homeless man dies in Ludlow weeks after hospital discharge

Barney Spicer, a 45-year-old man described as having severe mental illness and no permanent home, died on 14 December in Ludlow, just 10 days after his discharge from a mental health hospital in Shrewsbury. An inquest heard that Spicer was released in November 2024 in snowy weather without a permanent address, spending time sleeping under the Market Hall in Shrewsbury. The coroner, Heath Westerman, ruled the death was “not preventable” and concluded it was death by misadventure, citing combined drug toxicity, bronchopneumonia, fatty liver disease and ischaemic heart disease, after taking cocaine and ecstasy. The coroner found “significant gaps” in multi-agency coordination, though he said they did not contribute to the death—something Spicer’s brothers dispute.