A MAN died after a session of drinking wine and taking drugs, an inquest heard.

Craig Kershaw was said to have drunk several bottles of wine as well as taking heroin, while cocaine and diazepam were found in his system.

The 41-year-old, from Burnley, was found unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs by a flat mate at his house on Stonyhurst Avenue.

Addressing Mr Kershaw's family, coroner Richard Taylor said: "Craig had a problem with alcohol and was clearly using drugs as well.

"Maybe this is something he didn't want to share with you for obvious reasons as you would have told him what you thought of it."

The hearing at Preston Coroner's Court heard how Mr Kershaw, who suffered from Hepatitis, had last been seen at 4.30pm on February 4 this year.

The inquest was then told how Mr Kershaw had drunk wine and taken heroin and other drugs before later being discovered by his flat mate on the same day.

Mr Kershaw, who was born in Germany, was transferred to Royal Blackburn Hospital but died there that day.

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Toxicology tests showed Mr Kershaw had high blood urine and alcohol levels four times the legal drink driving limit.

Dr Simon Beardmore, consultant radiologist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, offered a medical cause of death as Cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol dependency.

Recording his conclusion that Mr Kershaw's death was drug and alcohol-related, Mr Taylor, said: "There was a lot of alcohol in his system and that in itself could have killed him. "There was also a mixture of drugs, and the mixture of both alcohol and drugs could in itself have killed him.

"So I would record that this was a drug and alcohol-related death.

"Mr Kershaw had drunk an awful lot and had used drugs for some time."

He added: "Mr Kershaw died at Royal Blackburn Hospital on February 4 having ingested an excess of alcohol and drugs."