Telford man died after consuming twice the usual fatal level of alcohol
A coroner told the relatives of a man who died after consuming a deadly amount of alcohol that he could not help them with their concerns for his care.
Gerard Kirkham, aged 64, from Wellington, was found dead in his housing association sheltered housing scheme on the afternoon of March 10, after concerns were raised.
Members of the family attended the coroner's court at Shirehall, Shrewsbury, on Tuesday but were told that their concerns, which were not revealed, were outside the scope of the inquest.
Senior Shropshire Coroner John Ellery said he recognised that the family have "serious concerns about the way he was looked after in his life".
But he said the matters concerning "why he had alcohol issues" were not something he could explore. He said inquests were only concerned with a limited number of issues concerning identity, place and cause of death.
The coroner was told that Mr Kirkham, a mechanical engineer, had been found on his bed at home surrounded by alcohol bottles. A post mortem found that he had consumed 740 microgrammes per decilitre of alcohol. Mr Ellery said this was "well above the level of 350" which would be expected to cause death. The drink-drive level is 80.
Mr Ellery said the family was "free to pursue concerns with the agency concerned".
The coroner concluded that Mr Kirkham's death was alcohol related.
