A naked man broke into student house and shouted ‘It’s time to die’

A naked man broke into a student house on St. James Road, Exeter and said "Time to die" before falling to his death out of a window.

The victim was identified as David Ireland, whose personal belongings were found at the entrance of the Exeter City Football Club grounds, St. James Park, only 75 yards away from the student house.

A first student was alerted to Mr Ireland's presence. The student in quesstion said that his girlfriend could hear him saying "nonsensical" words which he found to be "alarming". When he opened his window, he was then seen "swaying" on the opposite side of the road.

He shouted down to Mr Ireland but he was not acknowledged by him. Mr Ireland then said: "I can hear the voices, is it this one?". It was as this point that he ran to the unlocked front door, smashed through a second glass door, and covered in blood, made his way upstairs.

A second student then awoke to find Mr Ireland in his bedroom shouting "It's time to die, the devil is here", which he "thought was a threat". The two students and a third housemate then managed to shut Mr Ireland in the first floor bedroom.

One of the boys waited outside for the police and saw Mr Ireland fall to his death. He said: “His foot got caught on the window and he ended up rolling forward out of the window… I think he was just trying to escape to get out.”

Mr Ireland was taken to the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital where he passed away shortly after arriving.

Ireland was known to have had mental health issues in the past, but had not had a psychotic episode for over 18 years. The recent inquest into the incident found that his erratic behaviour only presented itself in the 24 hours before his death.

On the day of his death, Mr Ireland became increasingly paranoid, believing that his food was poisoned and that he was being watched. His friends and family have noted that his behaviour was incredibly "out of character".

A post mortem report also showed that the only substance in his blood at the time of his death was his prescribed medication for his mental health issues. The cause of death was confirmed as "multiple traumatic injuries".

The inquest ruled that Mr Ireland's death on February 13, 2017 was accidental.