ALCOHOLIC Andrew Cartmell had let himself go by the time a police officer forced open the front door of his home.

An inquest heard how that officer peered through the letterbox to see Mr Cartmell lying dead at the foot of the stairs.

The dirty, untidy house in Overross Street, Ross-on-Wye, was littered with empty cider bottles and had no electricity.

An alcoholic for 18 years - with at least two failed attempts to dry out behind him - Mr Cartmell was 41 when he died.

Drink, depression and anxiety attacks had long cast a shadow on the life of the bright young man who once worked as a housing officer in local government.

The inquest was told Mr Cartmell drank up to a bottle of Vodka a day to calm himself down. Toward the end he was either forgetting - or not bothering - to eat.

Post-mortem

His death was due to an accidental fall down the steep, uncovered oak staircase, said county coroner David Halpern.

Falls had hurt Mr Cartmell before. A combination of heavy drinking, prescription tablet dependence and a bad hip made him unsteady on his feet.

He took his fatal tumble sometime in March this year suffering serious head and neck injuries. A post-mortem indicated that he had been dead in the house for hours rather than days.

Mr Cartmell had his parents and neighbours looking out for him. The latter called in police over concerns for his welfare.

In spite of help, Mr Cartmell had let himself go, unable to step out of the vicious circle that was his drink and prescription drug dependence, said Mr Halpern.