Drinking led to man's death

A KNOWN drinker drank so much that he inhaled stomach acid into his lungs, an inquest was told.

Worcestershire coroner Victor Round said that Andrew Brocklebank had consumed enough alcohol to kill someone not used to it.

Blood tests on the 30-year-old proved that he had 340mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, more than four times the drink-drive limit.

Mr Brocklebank, of Larchfield Close, Malvern, died on Monday, May 21.

His mother, Gina Jones, found him collapsed on the floor at his home. An ambulance was called but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Ronkswood Hospital, Worcester.

Pathologist Dr Geoffrey Smith said, in a statement read out by the coroner, that Mr Brocklebank died of heart failure. This was due to aspiration pneumonia, a condition linked to alcohol intoxication.

Aspiration pneumonia happens when someone regurgitates the contents of their stomach and then inhales it into their lungs.

At the inquest at Stourbridge yesterday Mr Round recorded a verdict of misadventure.