A man was found dead by his family after a heavy drinking session at home.

Kurt Marcelle, 49, a nurse, of Downside Road, Risinghurst, Oxford, had a long-standing drink problem but had sought no treatment for his chronic condition, an Oxford inquest heard on Wednesday, May 21.

Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner was told post-mortem tests revealed a blood-alcohol level almost four-and-a-half times the legal drink-driving limit.

Consultant pathologist Dr Godman Greywood said traces of the prescribed drugs Valium and codeine were also found, and suggested the combination of the two had produced a toxic combination which killed Mr Marcelle on December 12 last year.

His widow, Ann Bowen-Marcelle, said that on the day before, he had been tipsy when she rung him at home. He failed to collect his older daughter from school and when his wife returned home, he was asleep while caring for their younger daughter.

They argued and Mr Marcelle went to the pub. He returned an hour later, staggering, and went into a ground-floor bedroom he used. His wife found him dead on the bed the next morning.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.