A SISTER is still in shock after finding her brother, who was previously fit and well, dead in his own home.

Stuart McGregor, a retired policeman living in Handcross Road in Haywards Heath, was found dead in his home on October 14 last year, an inquest heard.

His sister, Lynn, visited his home after he failed to attend a planned lunch with his mother.

She found her 58-year-old brother dead on his bed.

A post-mortem report gave a provisional cause of death as unascertained.

A toxicology report showed there were no drugs detected in his system.

Assistant coroner for West Sussex Joanne Andrews concluded his death was due to natural causes.

But Ms McGregor challenged the result.

She told the inquest, held at Centenary House in Crawley: “I just want to know how my brother died. He had gum disease which I understand if left untreated it could lead to septicaemia, but there was no trace of sepsis.”

Ms McGregor said she recently read in an article that sepsis can contain a certain protein in the blood.

She told the court: “I want to know if that protein was detected in my brother.”

Ms Andrews adjourned the hearing so a pathologist can investigate whether the protein was present.

She said: “We can come back at a another date after we have discovered that.”