A MAN who was suffering from CJD died of natural causes, a coroner has ruled.

John Martin, 71, of High West Road, Crook, County Durham, was diagnosed as suffering from sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after suffering a stroke.

The retired accountant was admitted to Bishop Auckland hospital on March 24 last year before being transferred to Middlesbrough General Hospital. He died on June 19.

Consultant neurologist Dr Gavin Young said Mr Martin had started having paranoid thoughts, prompting suspicions he may have sporadic CJD. Brain scans and other tests proved that was the case.

Dr Young told the Teesside inquest yesterday: "His condition progressed quickly. It must be stated that this was sporadic CJD and not new variant CJD."

Sporadic CJD is thought to affect 50 to 60 people a year.

Home Office pathologist Dr David Scoones told the inquest the main cause of death was because of a blood clot in Mr Martin's leg that led to deep vein thrombosis.

He was also suffering from heart disease, caused by the narrowing of his blood vessels.