A MAN who died in a house fire may have died from alcohol or carbon monoxide poisoning – or as a result of both, an inquest has concluded.
The hearing resumed on Wednesday into the death of 67-year-old Alan George Taylor, a former electrician and taxi driver originally from Birkenhead, who lived alone in Brighton Close, St Helier. He was found to have an alcohol level in his blood equivalent to four and a half times the legal drink-drive limit.
Mr Taylor died after a fire in his home on 17 December last year. Fire crews were called after neighbours heard his smoke alarm sounding and reached the scene at 8.30am.
His body was found inside, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators later discovered that an electric heater that had been placed very close to a sofa in his living room had ignited the sofa cover. They also found three empty wine bottles in the room.
Toxicology reports showed that Mr Taylor suffered “significant exposure to carbon monoxide” which could have been fatal.
But they also showed that the alcohol in his bloodstream was four and a half times the legal maximum for driving and was equivalent to 26 single measures of spirits, putting him “within the range where deaths have been recorded”.
The inquest concluded that he may have died from either substance or had been rendered unconscious by the alcohol and died by inhaling the carbon monoxide.
Relief Coroner Advocate Cyril Wheelan expressed the court’s condolences to Mr Taylor’s family.
