Drinker, 53, died after starting blaze in Telford flat

Andrew Nolan, 53, died on June 27 as a result of smoke inhalation and burns from the fire at Brunel Road, Dawley.

Telford coroner Mr John Ellery heard that Mr Nolan, who was estranged from his family and was unemployed, had been found near the window of the flat by firefighters.

The inquest at Wellington Register Office yesterday heard that Mr Nolan had been receiving treatment for his alcohol problems.

Arran Ludlow-Rhodes, from the drugs and alcohol recovery team, said he had met Mr Nolan five days before the fire.

He said: "He was an extremely heavy drinker and was a binge drinker. When I last saw him he said he was thinking of doing away with himself.

By the end of the meeting he was talking more about future plans and left with a support worker to go to the hospital for help with the alcohol withdrawal issues he was having."

Shaun Baker, station manager at Shrewsbury Fire Station, said: "The firefighters had to break down the front door to the flat and then kick down the bedroom door as well as they were both locked. This would suggest that Mr Nolan started the fire himself.

"It is unlikely that the fire could have started from a discarded cigarette as Mr Nolan smoked roll-ups and these do not produce enough heat. It is more likely he started the fire with a cigarette lighter."

Recording a narrative verdict, Mr Ellery said: "It would be wrong for me to assume that Mr Nolan wanted to kill himself. People set fires for all sorts of reasons. It could just have been the result of strange, irrational, chaotic thinking as a result of withdrawing from alcohol.

"I record that Andrew Nolan died having deliberately set a fire but with unclear intent."