Inquest resumes into man's death on Dixon's Chimney in Carlisle

An inquest into the death of a man who became trapped on top of the 290-foot high Dixon's Chimney in Carlisle will resume today.

Robert Philip Longcake, who was 53 and known as Phil, was left suspended upside down on the city's structure on 28 October 2019.

A 14-hour rescue operation, described by the emergency services as "very complex and precarious", had to be undertaken.

A 90-metre cherry picker allowed rope rescue specialists to reach him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

When the inquest was opened in November 2019, a post mortem examination concluded the cause of his death to be "hypothermia and cerebral swelling", and "inverted suspension".

The court heard how Mr Longcake had struggled with his mental health in the months before he died after reporting historical childhood abuse to police.