A KNOWN alcoholic and diabetic died after passing out from drinking with his head in an “awkward position”, an inquest heard.

David Robert Priest was found unresponsive at his home in Peach Street – a temporary flat provided by Wokingham Borough Council - on July 28 of last year after a care worker raised the alarm.

An inquest held at Reading Town Hall last Thursday (January 7), heard how Mr Priest, who had been diagnosed as bipolar in 1989 and was known to Wokingham's mental health team, was found lying face down on his bed by paramedics, with 88mg of alcohol in his blood.

He had suffered a number of side effects from alcoholism in the past, including paranoia, depression, anxiety and hallucinations and had suffered multiple spine fractures following a seizure from alcohol withdrawal in October 2010. 

In 2012, he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. 

On July 8, Mr Priest was taken to Prospect Park Hospital in Tilehurst, after being found sleeping rough on the streets in Woodley and threatening to kill himself. 

Senior coroner for Berkshire, Peter Bedford, said that Mr Priest had told medical experts that he was having "increasingly dark thoughts", had not been taking his medication regularly and had been drinking alcohol. 

At one point he also threatened to jump out of a moving car on the motorway.

Mr Priest had previously gone to live with his parents after the breakdown of his relationship but had left after a dispute with his father at a neighbour's BBQ.

A family friend rung the couple on July 7, to let them know that Mr Priest was feeling suicidal, but both agreed that they could not "cope" with him moving back in.

Mr Priest had told his parents' friend that he could not see "a way out of the situation", was running out of money and not sleeping well, but did not believe he needed psychiatric help. 

On July 9, he was given a room at the Travelodge in Reading to stay for a few nights by the council's housing department but was detained under the Mental Health Act on July 17 as he had threatened to jump in front of a train. 

He was then given a flat in Peach Street after sleeping rough in a shop doorway in Wokingham town centre. 

In the days leading up to July 28, a psychiatric nurse had been to visit Mr Priest but was concerned as there was no answer, raising the alarm to the crisis team at the council. 

They then confirmed that Mr Priest had been found dead. 

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, Mr Bedford, said: "The key elements surrounding the circumstances of his death is that he had drunk excessive alcohol, not something to which he was a stranger, and as a balance of probability he either ended up slipping over or landing in a very, very strange position and as a result of the amount of alcohol in his body, he was unable to move himself and it impaired his ability to breathe."