Unknown food allergy caused Llangollen man's death

Robin Wynne Williams died of a severe food allergy from an unconfirmed ingredient, the inquest heard

A construction engineer died from a severe reaction to an unknown food allergy, an inquest has heard.

Robin Wynne Williams, 45, was found dead after celebrating finishing repairs to Anglesey's Menai suspension bridge with colleagues at a pub.

A doctor's statement said he was told to "sensibly avoid jalapeno peppers" following a reaction in 2018.

But a pathologist told the Caernarfon inquest the ingredient which caused the reaction was unknown.

Dr Huyam Abdalsalam, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said Mr Williams, of Llangollen, Denbighshire, died from anaphylactic shock due to a food allergy, but added: "We don't know what food caused it".

Mr Williams and his colleagues had celebrated the completion of work with drinks and a buffet of pizza and chips, the inquest heard.

After returning to the motorhome he was staying in, he told his partner Karen Maurice in a phone call that a rash had appeared on his legs - something that had happened before after eating a variety of foods - and his lips were tingling. She advised him to drink water and get some sleep.

After failing to get hold of him the next day, Ms Maurice travelled to his motorhome and found his body in the bathroom.

'Incredibly unusual'

She told the hearing Mr Williams said he had only been told to avoid chilli, which she said was "rubbish" as he would eat chilli every day with no adverse reaction.

"I don't think he was specifically told not to eat jalapenos. He didn't know that was an issue for him," she said.

Reaching her narrative conclusion, the senior coroner for north west Wales, Kate Robertson, said: "This was an incredibly unusual set of circumstances.

"On the balance of probability it's more likely than not that there was an anaphylactic shock to some food consumed although that couldn't be identified."

She said she would write to Mr Williams's GP and Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board to ask about facilities for allergy management in north Wales.

"I don't know what those facilities are. In this type of situation where someone is diagnosed with an allergy who is responsible for the management of that?" she asked.