Battle with drink led to death of widower from Huntingdon
Lawrence Court, in Huntingdon. Picture: Steve Williams. - Credit: Archant
A widower died from alcohol poisoning after battling with a drinking problem, an inquest heard.
Raymond Thomas was found by his friend, Andy Murphy, at his home in Countess Close, Eaton Socon, on May 12.
The 54-year-old had been known to be a “heavy drinker” for many years but his friend, Mr Murphy, told police officers that Mr Thomas was trying to “push his addiction to alcohol”.
An inquest into his death, held at Lawrence Court, in Huntingdon, on Thursday, was told that, on the day of his death, Mr Murphy had come to collect his friend to take him to a meeting but discovered him face down on the floor.
In a statement given the Cambridgeshire police officer Lynsey Green, Mr Murphy said: “I found a mobile phone in his left hand.
“I called the emergency services and they told me to clear space for the paramedics – I had moved some of the bottles further away from him.”
A post mortem carried out by Dr Martin Goddard, of Papworth Hospital, revealed that Mr Thomas “had a history of alcohol abuse that had worsened recently.”
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At the time of his death, Mr Thomas was almost five times over the legal alcohol limit, he was found to have 380 millilitres per 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit is 80.
The senior coroner for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire, David Heming, recorded a conclusion of acute alcohol poisoning that was associated to a “clinical condition that was alcohol related”.
