A WOMAN found lying in the street in Oxford died from hypothermia after drinking alcohol, an inquest heard.

Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter told Oxford Coroner’s Court that Tracy Hickman, of Foresters Tower, Wood Farm Road, was found outside a friend’s house in Bonar Road, Headington, during the early hours of January 6.

Mother-of-one Ms Hickman was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital after a neighbour called police shortly before 6.30am, but she was declared dead at 7.40am.

Mr Salter told the inquest yesterday the unemployed 49-year-old visited the home of friend Chris Barnes after midnight and then left after two hours.

At 12.20am there was a missed call on the mobile phone of Ms Hickman’s partner Neil Hughes, but she left no message.

Consultant pathologist Dr Sanjiv Malek, who carried out a post mortem examination, said there were a number of bruises on Ms Hickman’s shins, elbows and knees, consistent with hypothermia cases, but no evidence of a head injury.

He added toxicology tests showed she had been drinking alcohol and would have been moderately intoxicated. He said: “The cause of death was hypothermia due to alcohol intoxication.”

He believed Ms Hickman collapsed during the early hours – about 2am – and that she may have fallen and been unable to get up in the cold.

He added: “You could lose body temperature to a significant level within three to four hours.”

Mr Salter added a police investigation found no third-party involvement in the death.

The coroner recorded a verdict of alcohol-related death.