Man died while scaling gate to search bins for food, inquest told

Botand Bordas (49) hanged to death when clothing caught on spike at Moore Lane in Dublin

Botand Bordas (49), a Romanian national, was climbing a gate at Moore Lane (above) in Dublin city centre to access a recycling yard when he died on June 14th, 2015. File photograph: Google Street View
Botand Bordas (49), a Romanian national, was climbing a gate at Moore Lane (above) in Dublin city centre to access a recycling yard when he died on June 14th, 2015. File photograph: Google Street View

A man who tried to scale a 10ft gate to search bins for food became suspended by clothing on a spike and died, an inquest heard.

Botand Bordas (49), a Romanian national who moved to Ireland in 2007, was climbing a gate at Moore Lane in Dublin city centre to access a recycling yard used by Jury's and Lidl when the incident happened on June 14th, 2015.

The man reached the top of the gate and was descending the other side when his T-shirt got caught on a spike. He became suspended from the spike and died due to hanging, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

Problem with alcohol

The man, who had an address in Dublin 7, was described as funny, popular and very smart by family members. He had developed a problem with alcohol, the court heard.

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"He was always attracted to negative things," the man's brother Ian Wottig said after the inquest.

Mr Bordas’s body was found by a Lidl staff member carrying rubbish to the recycling yard. Emergency services were called and death was pronounced at the scene.

Garda David Kenny of Store Street Garda station viewed CCTV footage as part of his investigation. “Homeless people regularly visit the compound looking for food and drink,” he said.

The inquest heard a new gate preventing access to the recycling compound has been erected since the incident.

A postmortem report found the deceased had a blood alcohol level of 192 mg per 100ml, which could have affected his balance and judgment, according to Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane.

Very tragic

The coroner returned a verdict of death by misadventure, saying it was a very tragic story.

Mr Wottig said he had last seen his brother about three months before his death.

“At first he was working, he had a pretty good life, but he had a drink problem. I could not get on with him when he was drinking,” he added.