Owner lay dead as buyers were shown around house

LONDON - Prospective buyers were shown around a house in Britain by an estate agent while the owner lay dead on her sofa.

Estate agent Samuel Allfort said he assumed the 55-year-old woman was sleeping and continued with the visit that had been pre-arranged, Westminster Coroner’s Court heard Thursday.

After the buyers left, Allfort returned to the house as something wasn’t right.

Daily Mail reported that the estate agent found the homeowner, Katherine Frame, motionless on the sofa.

The incident took place in Notting Hill, West London June 29.

Allfort’s statement to the court said: “After finishing the viewing I went outside with the applicants to say goodbye. I then went back into the property because something didn’t seem right.”

“Upon seeing this person again, she seemed absolutely motionless and were a yellow-ish colour. I called an ambulance which arrived almost instantly, and the ambulance man soon told me that she had passed away.”

Frame was living alone since her divorce.

Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Barton said: “I conclude that this was (due to) natural causes, exacerbated by chronic excessive alcohol ingestion.”