Police apologise to widow of River Cottage star Nick Fisher for presenting ‘misinformation’ at inquest after TV writer died of overdose in hotel room
Published: 16:42, 18 December 2023 | Updated: 16:42, 18 December 2023
The family of a TV writer found dead in a Dorset hotel room have received an apology from police after they were presented with ‘misinformation’ at an inquest.
Nicholas David Fisher, 63, known to many as Nick, was a screenwriter widely known for his appearances on the Channel 4[2] series River Cottage alongside celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall after it first aired in 1999.
He sparked a missing person search after he failed to return to his home in Hooke near Beaminster on November 15, 2022.
Sadly, Mr Fisher was found unresponsive as a result of a drug overdose two days later in a hotel room at Wessex Royale Hotel in Dorchester.
Nicholas David Fisher, 63, was found unresponsive as a result of a drug overdose at Wessex Royale Hotel in Dorchester
The 63-year-old was a screenwriter (left) was widely known for his appearances on the Channel 4 series River Cottage alongside celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (right)
Area coroner for Dorset, Brendan Allen, initially held Mr Fisher’s inquest on Wednesday, July 5 but adjourned the hearing after concerns were raised about the police search and access to Nick’s mobile phone.
At the inquest on Wednesday (December 13), it was confirmed by Dorset Police that officers carried out an examination of Mr Fisher’s phone and couldn’t find any hotels or related searches on his mobile phone.
Mr Fisher’s phone was examined again in April 2023 and found a search for the Wessex Royale Hotel, but this was on a linked device.
Dorset Police has admitted this caused misinformation and apologised.
It comes after his wife Helen listed a number of grievances related to Dorset Police’s search to find her husband.
Mr Fisher, who wrote the ITV children’s series The Giblet Boys which won a BAFTA in 2006, had a prolific career as a screenwriter, broadcaster and freelance journalist
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who lives in west Dorset, was a big fan of the show and the two became friends
This includes how they failed to access his mobile phone despite officers being given his PIN, how Mr Fisher had Googled the hotel’s name and a mistake with the false alias when he booked into the Royale Wessex Hotel saying he had given the name ‘Nick Fuller’ when he actually said ‘Nigel Fuller’.
Dorset Police also admitted they had the PIN to Nick’s mobile phone, but asked his family for this again following his death.
The force said this was ‘a genuine mistake and we have apologised for any distress caused’.
A previous hearing on July 5 was told the BAFTA-award-winning writer Mr Fisher had a secret lifelong drug addiction, using heroin, cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms.
A postmortem examination found he had taken a fatal overdose of the painkiller tramadol and morphine while in the hotel room.
Helen Fisher said that had police officers looked at her husband’s phone and pin when she gave it to them hours after he disappeared, they would have found that he had Googled the hotel alive and would have been able to get his stomach pumped.
She also critcised the NHS for prescribing her husband, who she described as a ‘lifelong drug addict’, with opioid drugs without informing the family.
Mrs Fisher said: ‘The NHS giving a prescription of an opioid drug to an addict with no questions asked, how can that possibly happen, it’s unbelievable, with no family member being alerted.
Nick Fisher was said to be a lifelong drug addict and alcoholic.
He was found with fatal levels of opioid tramadol and morphine in his system
‘Is that really how it goes, you can prescribe opioids to a known heroin addict and family members aren’t alerted?
I am finding the whole thing disappointing at every level.
‘At the same time, he was a grown man and was able to make his own decision and it was a decision he took, and I have to respect that.’
Mrs Fisher said that on the day he disappeared, her husband was ‘stressed’ about an accident involving a fishing boat he owned at Brixham which had damaged some scallop nets when driven by its skipper and he feared he would be sued.
She said she alerted the police because his disappearance was out of character, but she did not believe he would harm himself despite a previous ‘serious suicide attempt’.
After he was found, Mrs Fisher said that she was initially only told by the police of the overdose but was later informed over the phone that her husband was found to have possibly tried to asphyxiate himself as well.
During the hearing, she also criticised the pathologist Dr Robert Blahut for the ‘unforgivable’ mistake in his post-mortem report which stated her husband still had a gallbladder despite this having been removed previously.
Dr Blahut apologised to Mrs Fisher for the error in his report.
He said that the toxicology report showed Mr Fisher had fatal levels of opioid tramadol and morphine in his system and said this was the cause of death.
He added that a low level of alcohol in his blood as well as the apparent asphyxiation bid had not contributed to his death.
Mr Fisher, who wrote the ITV children’s series The Giblet Boys which won a BAFTA in 2006, had a prolific career as a screenwriter, broadcaster and freelance journalist.
He wrote scripts for BBC shows like Eastenders, Holby City and New Tricks and in the 1990s he appeared in the Channel 4 show ‘Screaming Reels’ where he would take celebrities to fishing points around Britain.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who lives in west Dorset, was a big fan of the show and the two became friends.
Mr Fisher appeared on River Cottage after it first aired in 1999 and in 2007 the pair co-authored the book ‘River Cottage Gone Fishing’ based on the show.
In November, Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall told of his sadness at the loss of his ‘brilliant friend’ who was ‘full of insight and compassion’.
References
- ^ Matt Drake (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Channel 4 (www.dailymail.co.uk)