There is still mystery surrounding the death of a Swindon man who was found at the back of a scrap yard less than two weeks after being released from prison.

Karl Foster was 34 when he was found on August 26, 2022 by police and declared dead at 13.53pm at the back of Swindon Metal Recycling Company.

Swindon Coroners Court heard on Friday, September 15 how Karl had been found in a crossed-legged position with his head down.

Senior Coroner David Ridley explained that his body may have been there for a while and that the date of death was when he was found.

Karl had been released from prison 10 days prior to police discovering his body. On August 16th, 2022, he was released and expected to attend a probation meeting but did not.

He then attended a probation meeting on August 17th, 2022. When he attended this session, he had facial injuries and when asked about this, he said that he had fallen and that he had had his medication stolen.

The court heard that the injuries did not look like they had been sustained from a fall.

He was also supposed to attend a probation meeting on August 23 which he did not attend. He was then found three days later.

Karl’s father had described him as a very private person.

After his release, he was given a room at the GW Hotel in the centre of Swindon which he did not go to.

Mr Ridley said: “Karl had a room at his father’s house but did not stay very often, only saw him three times, (Karl’s father) did not know who his friends were or where he was going.”

His father also had “no idea what drugs he was taking”.

Mr Ridley explained to the court that although there were drugs in his system, there was not an excessive amount and therefore the death could not be attributed to the excessive use of drugs.

Karl was found next to ‘drug paraphernalia’ which was described specifically as cannabis grinders.

Mr Ridley said that Karl had “drifted on the wrong path from about 13 years old”.

Karl’s mother who attended the court confirmed this and said that “the alcohol and the drugs got the better of him”.

She recalled telling him at a young age: “You have got so many good qualities going for you, find something you like”.

His mother hadn’t seen him for approximately 10 months before he passed away.

Karl’s death was determined as unsuspicious and unascertained.