Inquests were opened into the deaths of four people at hospitals in Oxford and Reading.

Zak Fairhurst, 18, suffered a cardiac arrest after spinal surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital on February 4, Oxford Coroner’s Court heard.

The cause of the student’s death was recorded as cardiac arrest with acute lung injury and ‘aspiration pneumonia’.

An inquest will be held on December 14.

Retired clerk of works Derek Chapman, 84, died from pneumonia – linked to exposure to asbestos during his career.

Mr Chapman, of Haywards Road, Drayton, died at the John Radcliffe Hospital on July 2.

A full inquest will take place on August 18, as is normal practice in industrial-related deaths.

Sophia Grant, 93, fell the St Johns care home in St Mary’s Road, east Oxford, on June 20.

The Edinburgh-born woman was admitted to hospital but, despite treatment, died on June 24 at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington. Her cause of death was given as peri-prosthetic hip fracture, with contributing causes including frailty, vascular dementia, atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease.

A full inquest will take place on November 30.

Former professor of physiology Francis Cunningham was admitted to hospital after a fall at his home in Paradise Road, Henley, on June 14.

The 88-year-old received treatment at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, but died on June 24. The primary cause of his death was given as traumatic subdural haemorrhage, or a bleed on the brain.

A full inquest was listed for October 27.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward