Inquest into death of William Chapman to open today after Yorkshire Wildlife Park tiger tragedy
The hearing is planned for today
The opening of the inquest into the death of a man mauled to death by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park is due to open today.
William Chapman, aged 23, died when he was attacked by Amur tiger Altai after climbing into the animal’s Land of the Tigers enclosure at the popular attraction on Saturday afternoon.
The Doncaster Coroner will open the inquest into Mr Chapman’s death at Doncaster Coroner’s Court within the Civic Offices building from 10am on Thursday, October 15.
The brief and formal public hearing that marks the official start of the coroner's judicial inquiry into his death is only expected to last a few minutes and is likely to be immediately adjourned to allow the coroner's team time to gather evidence and conduct a thorough investigation.
His family also said he had suffered from “significant mental illness over a number of years”.
“The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened,” they said on Tuesday.
“The publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time. We ask people to stop doing this.”
US President Donald Trump came under fire for sharing a video of Mr Chapman inside the enclosure captioning the video “Don’t mess with nature!”
William’s family said: “The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their upmost to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.”
In the statement, his family added: “William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back.
“Sadly, William suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication.
“It will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death.
“We would ask everybody to respect that process.”