A man who climbed two fences to jump into a tiger’s enclosure at a UK wildlife park suffered multiple traumatic injuries as the apex predator mauled him to death, an inquest has been told.

The hearing at Doncaster Coroner’s Court on Thursday heard how former child actor William Chapman, 23, recorded himself on his phone before 190kg Siberian tiger Altai killed him at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday.

It also heard that despite having a history of mental illness and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, he was deemed by local mental health services who had treated him to be “independent with no care requirements” when he entered the enclosure.

The Sun reported that the inquest was told by coroner’s officer Caitlin Brookes that Chapman “was approached by the tiger and the ensuing physical contact between the tiger and Mr Chapman led to him sustaining multiple traumatic injuries which rapidly led to his death.”

The victim’s body had to be confirmed by his stepfather following the attack with a post mortem determining his provisional cause of death as “1A multiple traumatic injuries and 1B animal interaction”.

The inquest was also told that Chapman’s family confirmed that the victim had a “history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia”, that he “had suffered previous bouts of psychosis” but despite being under the care of local mental health services was deemed to be “independent with no care requirements”.

Ms Brookes told the inquest that had led his family to express concerns regarding his contact with mental health services in the days prior to his fatal interaction with the tiger Altai.

An NHS investigation had been launched, a senior coroner told the court.

Senior coroner for South Yorkshire East Nicola Mundy asked Ms Brookes to find out if Chapman, who was a self-employed online trader at the time of his death, had visited the wildlife park before and if any CCTV could be obtained to confirm that.

A full inquest into Chapman’s death was set for March 18, 2027.

The new information into the fatal encounter came just a day after Chapman, who starred in BBC series True Stories as a child, was remembered by his family in a statement as a “bright, warm” man.

“William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved — and William loved them back,” it read.

“The publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time.

“The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

“The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their (utmost) to get to the bottom of why our amazing son did what he did.”

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