Father, 59, died after falling down the stairs at his home following a heavy night of drinking more than ten ciders on a pub crawl, inquest hears
- Gary Peck, 59, was ‘profoundly’ intoxicated when he fell at his home in Alvaston
- He suffered a fatal head injury when he fell down the stairs at Derbyshire home
- Had been on a night out with friend Alicia Young and drank at least ten ciders
A 59-year-old father died after falling down the stairs following a heavy night of drinking which left him ‘profoundly’ intoxicated, an inquest has heard.
Gary Peck suffered a fatal head injury when he fell at his home in Alvaston, Derbyshire.
According to evidence given at his inquest, the alcohol count in Mr Peck’s blood showed he would have been ‘profoundly’ intoxicated at the time of his death.
Gary Peck, 59, died after falling down the stairs following a heavy night of drinking which left him ‘profoundly’ intoxicated, an inquest has heard
He had been on a night out with a friend on Saturday, February 22, during which the pair had visited a number of bars in Derby.
The inquest heard this was not unusual and Mr Peck and his friend would ‘often have drinks at the weekend’ together, usually on a Saturday night.
His friend works behind the bar at Alvaston and Crewton Social Club, where Mr Peck had been a regular customer for several years.
Derby Coroner’s Court heard how the pair had been drinking at the club and had left for Derby city centre at around 11.30pm.
At that time, Mr Peck’s companion described her friend as ‘merry’ and estimated he had drunk around 10 pints of cider.
After getting a taxi into the city centre, they visited a number of bars, including Noah’s Ark, the White Horse and Metro Bar.
The friend said she ‘could not be sure how much he drank’ but confirmed the pair had continued drinking and were ‘very intoxicated’.
Mr Peck had been drinking with his friend, Alicia Young, at the Alvaston and Crewton Social Club (pictured) on the night of his death
When they parted ways in the early hours of April 23, the friend said there was ‘nothing concerning’ about the father-of-three’s behaviour.
A few hours later, the body of Mr Peck was discovered at the bottom of his stairs by a neighbour.
The inquest was told she had gone into the house to investigate after seeing Mr Peck’s dog, Alfie, wandering around in the street outside.
In her closing statement, assistant coroner Emma Serrano said Mr Peck’s death was accidental but, had it not been for the alcohol intoxication, he may not have died.
She said: ‘Having come home from his night out, he has fallen down the stairs and this has caused a head injury and sadly he passed away.
‘That alcohol intoxication led to the fall; had it not been for that fall, there would be no inquest today.’
Mrs Serrano recorded the death as accidental, contributed to by alcohol intoxication.
Paying tribute to her father, daughter Laura Gryzelka described him as ‘dearly loved’ and the ‘glue which held the family together’.
Derby Coroner’s Court (pictured) heard how the pair had been drinking at the club and had left for Derby city centre at around 11.30pm
She said: ‘Our dad was our hero and one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
‘His tragic death has left us devastated; the only comfort we take is the fact he is now reunited with our beloved mum.
‘He worked for Derby Homes, as a plumber by trade, and he’d been with the company since he was 16.
‘I spoke to him every day; we were a close family. He was an avid football fan and had a season ticket for Derby County, we recently went to the Fulham match together.
‘He has been going to the Alvaston Social Club for years, where he had a lot of friends.
‘His sudden passing has hit the family hard and leaves a massive hole in our hearts.’