Heroin death of Monkhouse son

Details of the sordid death of Bob Monkhouse's estranged son in a cheap hostel for backpackers emerged today as an inquest heard how a holiday turned to tragedy.

Simon Monkhouse was found dead of a heroin overdose, slumped with a syringe still embedded in his arm.

The 46-year-old was staying in the £1-a-night Duang guesthouse in a town in Thailand notorious for hippies and drug-users who binge on cheap narcotics.

No relatives or friends were at the Westminster inquest today to hear coroner Dr Paul Knapman record a verdict of death due to non-dependent drug abuse.

Having seen evidence of a final happy postcard from the bachelor from south Lambeth to his stepmother, Dr Knapman announced: "I don't think we have evidence here the deceased committed suicide.

"The one thread going through this whole story is one of drugs and heroin, and I am going to say the cause of death is opiate poisoning. I don't find sufficient evidence that he was an addict."

The inquest heard that Mr Monkhouse had a passion for foreign travel and had twice extended his three-month tour of south-east Asia.

His half-naked, decomposing body was discovered on 14 April. Mrs Elizabeth Ormerod, 73, who divorced Bob Monkhouse in 1996, told police she had received three postcards and numerous e-mails from Simon as he travelled through Thailand and Laos, describing it as "the holiday of a lifetime." She said: "He was enjoying himself so much he twice delayed his return to the UK."

However, a post mortem in Thailand revealed a fatal concentration of heroin in his liver.

Mrs Ormerod said Mr Monkhouse had a sociology degree from London University and was a primary school teacher for 20 years, with a keen interest in poetry, music and film. In long school breaks he travelled to South America or Asia. He had recently taken voluntary redundancy.

She added that even though her stepson travelled alone he was not a loner and met many friends along the way.

Bob Monkhouse, who lives in Leighton Buzzard, was "too shattered to comment" after the death. His son had refused attempts at reconciliation and they had not been in contact for 10 years. His other son, Gary, died from cerebral palsy in 1992. His daughter Abigail Williams, 41, lives in Battersea.

Last year, Simon Monkhouse accused his father of being distant and controlling. He was upset at being "airbrushed" out of the entertainer's autobiography.