Man found dead two months after he was last seen

A man was found dead in his home two months after he was last seen. Lee Purkis, 54, was found in his Crawley home on March 9, 2023, having not been seen since January of the same year. Mr Purkis, a DJ who performed under the name In Sync, was one of the earliest British DJs to play house and techno music , music publication NME reported.

He opened the FatCat Records shop in Crawley in 1989 which now operates as a record label. A report now suggests a communication breakdown between two NHS trusts may have contributed to his death. Mr Purkis had been subject to a court order which required him to get mental health treatment.

But he was discharged from the care of Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust before his death as they did not know about the order. Now, West Sussex assistant coroner Nick Armstrong KC has warned that court orders “will be undermined” if similar breakdowns were to happen again. An inquest into Mr Purkis's death, held in June 2024, heard that he was being treated by Surrey and Borders NHS Foundation Trust shortly before his death but his care was transferred to Sussex Partnership when he moved home.

It also heard that Surrey and Borders failed to tell Sussex Partnership about the mental health treatment requirement (MHTR) in his community order and what it required. The assistant coroner concluded that Mr Purkis's cause of death could not be ascertained. In a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, Mr Armstrong said: “My concern here is that Lee Purkis .