Max Clifford inquest: Publicist died of natural causes

Disgraced publicist Max Clifford died of natural causes after collapsing in a prison shower, a coroner has ruled.

Clifford, 74, collapsed at Littlehey Prison, Cambridgeshire, where he was serving an eight-year sentence for historical sex offences.

He died at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, near Huntingdon, on 10 December 2017.

His inquest heard he could have received better care if his heart condition had been diagnosed sooner.

Clifford had complained of shortness of breath to a prison GP in July 2017 and an ultrasound of his heart was carried out two months later, the three-day hearing in Peterborough was told.

Assistant coroner Simon Milburn said that if the ultrasound had been referred from a general cardiologist at Hinchingbrooke to a specialist for a second opinion, it "probably" would have led to a diagnosis of cardiac AL amyloidosis.

The rare condition - caused by a build-up of abnormal proteins in organs and tissues - was not diagnosed until the days before Clifford's death.

Mr Milburn said that an earlier diagnosis would not have prolonged Clifford's life but could have helped "optimise his treatment and relieve his symptoms".

Cardiologists made clinical decisions "based on the evidence and symptoms [they] saw at the time", he said.

A post-mortem examination recorded the cause of death as congestive heart failure.

The coroner has asked Prof Jonathan Townend, a consultant cardiologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, to carry out a review of Clifford's cardiac care.

His daughter Louise had earlier raised her father's complaints about "ice-cold showers and cold cells", and claimed "his dying months lacked humanity and dignity".

A statement read out after the inquest said a "second opinion" of his condition "should have been sought".

"This would have led to improved treatment and comfort and allowed Max to make arrangements for the last few months of his life," the family's solicitor Neil Cronin said.

"This was taken away from him."