Boater drank himself to death

THE boater who was found dead on his narrowboat at Mercia Marina in January had literally drunk himself to death, a coroners' court was told.

It was in late January that narrowboatworld reported the death of David Nock who was resident at Mercia Marina, and a post-mortem examination of the 66 years old man was carried out, and a toxicology report showed he had 316 milligrams of alcohol in a decilitre of blood—described as a ‘gross excess' and associated with acute fatal toxicity, Alan Tilbury relates.

High

Deputy coroner for Derby and South Derbyshire Louise Pinder explained:

"The reading of ethanol levels in Mr Nock's blood was so high to put it in the range of acute fatal toxicity. It wasn't a slow process—he'd drank immediately prior to his death."

Fire not in use

It was fellow resident boater Mary Harrison who noticed the man's fire had not been in use for a few days and went on to his boat, The Belgarian, where she found the body, then  telephoned the emergency services.

It was stated that David Nock was a heavy alcohol user, but there was discussion with his general practitioner about cutting down."

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.