brief inquest in Rochdale, listed in the name of Neil Dovestones – a nickname reportedly given to him by mortuary workers at Royal Oldham hospital – Nelson said a full hearing would take place at Heywood coroner’s court on 14 March.

In January last year, pictures of Lytton were circulated to GPs nationwide, while detectives from Manchester travelled to London and visited hostels, hotels and pubs in their quest to uncover his identity.

Officers identified the smartly dressed man in CCTV footage from Ealing, west London, where he is believed to have started his journey on the morning of 11 December. He arrived in Manchester shortly after midday, having taken a train from London Euston, then went to Greenfield.

Despite being warned about treacherous weather conditions by the Clarence landlord, MelRobinson, the man left the pub and was spotted by witnesses walking up the hill at about 4.30pm. His body was found the next morning by a passing cyclist on a boggy section of track at about 10.30am.

He was lying on his back, 700 metres down from Chew reservoir. He had walked a little over 4km, much of it uphill. His arms were at his sides, his feet facing downhill. He had £130 in £10 notes in his right trouser pocket. In his left coat pocket were three train tickets from the previous morning: a single from Ealing Broadway to London Euston and a return from Euston to Manchester Piccadilly.

Also in his coat pocket was a medicine box made of card. Inside was an empty container labelled thyroxine