Fatal stair fall of Preston woman, 53, after heavy drinking session

A 53-year-old Preston woman had drunk a dangerous amount of alcohol when she fell down a flight of concrete stairs while visiting a relative, an inquest heard.
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Joanne Lee Thomas suffered an “unsurvivable” head injury and died six days later in the Royal Preston Hospital.

Coroner Richard Taylor was told Miss Thomas, of Rawcliffe Drive, Ashton, was suffering from “profound alcohol intoxication” when she turned up unexpectedly at a flat in The Paddock, Fulwood late at night.

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Police called to the scene said her relative, Brian Thomas, had described her condition as “drunk, staggering around and unsteady” at the top of the stairs outside his first floor flat.

The block of flats at The Paddock in Fulwood where the accident happened.The block of flats at The Paddock in Fulwood where the accident happened.
The block of flats at The Paddock in Fulwood where the accident happened.

He went inside to roll a cigarette and when he came out a couple of minutes later he found her at the bottom of the steps.

She was taken to RPH where doctors said her head injury was so severe it was decided surgery was pointless and she was put on end of life care.

A toxicology report showed Miss Thomas had a blood-alcohol level so high, it could have been fatal in itself. Police who investigated the incident found there were no suspicious circumstances.

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The Coroner, who heard the stairway was wet and slippy at the time, said: “This was an unwitnessed fall while she was under the influence of alcohol and there is nothing to suggest it was anything other than accidental.”