Chesterfield man died after heavy drinking session following funeral

Daniel Lowens was found dead in the living room of his Foljambe Road home on August 4.

The documentary inquest, held at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court on November 8, heard that a friend visited Mr Lowens who had attended the funeral the day before and was drinking heavily.

Mr Lowens, who worked as a security guard, later fell off a chair and his friend guided him to the sofa, propped him up with cushions and left the property to allow the 32-year-old to ‘sleep it off’.

Noticing that a door to the property had been left open, a neighbour contacted Mr Lowen’s fiancee who was away.

His fiancee asked a friend to check on Mr Lowens who then found him lying ‘face down’ and unresponsive on the living room floor. The friend and a neighbour attempted CPR but Mr Lowens was later pronounced dead.

Assistant coroner Peter Nieto said: “Mr Lowens died due to the effects of alcohol toxicity which included positional asphyxia.

“On the post mortem evidence it is likely that Mr Lowens fell and fractured a cervical vertebra shortly before his death and that the fall also contributed to his death.”

In a statement issued to the Derbyshire Times at the time of his death, his family said: “Daniel has left a huge hole in the lives of his family and will never be forgotten.”