Volodymyr Panashchenko, 50, died at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel on May 27.
Opening an inquest into his death on Friday, July 4, a coroner said Mr Panashchenko, of “no fixed abode”, had collapsed three days earlier.
His death was originally referred to the Inner London North Coroner’s Court, which investigates deaths in Whitechapel.
But, said senior east London coroner Graeme Irvine, “It was learned by the coroner that injuries sustained by Mr Panashchenko had been sustained in Barking and consequently it was more proper for the inquest to be heard in east London.”
“This 50-year-old man was observed near Barking station in the early hours of the 24th of May,” he continued.
“CCTV seems to suggest that he had a fall at some stage. Later in the morning, he was spoken to by the London Ambulance Service, then found unresponsive within the station.”
The Royal London gave Mr Panashchenko’s cause of death as “traumatic brain injury – subdural haematoma” – a bleed on the brain.
“This is clearly not a natural cause of death,” Mr Irvine told East London Coroner’s Court in Walthamstow.
“Given those circumstances, I will open an inquest.”
Coroners are required to investigate all unnatural or unexplained deaths and whether future similar deaths might be avoidable.
The court heard Mr Panashchenko’s sister had been identified and would be treated as an “interested person” – a legal status entitling her to view evidence ahead of the final inquest and question any witnesses called to testify.
Mr Irvine asked his staff to obtain a statement from the family which included when they had last seen Mr Panashchenko, what they knew about his movements in the lead-up to his death and whether they had any concerns.
The coroner also asked for statements and investigation records from both the British Transport Police and the Metropolitan Police Service, Mr Panashchenko’s medical records, and requested that any bloods taken upon his hospital admission be secured for toxicology testing.
The final inquest was provisionally scheduled for January.
