An inquest into the death of a kindly homeless man is being put on hold until his three children can be tracked down.

William Dengar, 54, died on July 1 after being taken ill, but it took a week for his friend Kay Barot, a full-time carer, to find out because she only knew his first name.

The Czech national was thought to have lived in the Mitcham Road area of west Croydon for about seven years and according to neighbours spoke four languages, knew a vast amount about the world’s different cultures and would always lend a hand when needed.

Croydon Coroner’s Court has opened an inquest into Mr Dengar’s death but has adjourned it while the Czech embassy attempts to locate his three children.

Miss Barot, a neighbour and friend of Mr Dengar said: “From what I can work out, William had something wrong with his spleen that was causing him a lot of pain.

“We never knew about it and he never complained about being in pain.”

So far Miss Barot has been inundated with people coming to her house in Mitcham Road to pay their respects to Mr Dengar.

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