Christopher Sedgewick, 39, was confirmed dead at his home above a pizza restaurant in Main Road, Romford, on February 17.
The Metropolitan Police Service investigated, said senior east London coroner Graeme Irvine, but “no sinister or criminal activity was detected”.
Mr Sedgewick’s cause of death was unknown, but “a number of empty alcohol bottles were found near the deceased,” the coroner continued.
The police referred the case to East London Coroner’s Court, which ordered a post-mortem examination.
“After the autopsy there was no clear cause of death, but there was a suspicion that alcohol lay behind the cause of death and therefore, toxicology lab results were required,” Mr Irvine told a brief hearing at the court on Wednesday morning (July 2).
The results took months to come back.
Having reviewed them, a pathologist has now given Mr Sedgewick’s cause of death as “acute alcohol toxicity” against a background of “alcohol-related fatty liver disease”, likely caused by “long-term chronic alcohol misuse”.
“Given those circumstances, I will open an inquest,” the coroner told the court.
Coroners are required to hold public inquests to investigate all unnatural or unexplained deaths, and whether future similar deaths might be avoided.
“This is an unnatural cause of death,” Mr Irvine said.
He declared Mr Sedgewick’s family “interested persons” – a legal status entitling them to view evidence ahead of the final inquest and question any witnesses called to testify.
He asked them to prepare a statement detailing Mr Sedgewick’s biography and setting out “any concerns that they have regarding the death”.
He also ordered his staff to obtain Mr Sedgewick’s medical records and investigate whether he had been receiving treatment from any alcohol or drug misuse agency.
The final inquest was provisionally scheduled for September.
