Desmond Modeste, 57, was discovered unresponsive at his home – a retirement complex called Beddals Farm Court in Tollgate Road, Beckton – on Tuesday, June 24.
An inquest into his death was opened at East London Coroner’s Court on Friday, August 1.
Coroner’s officer Jean Smyth told the court Mr Modeste had been born in Forest Gate and was single at the time of his death.
“Police officers were called to the home of Mr Modeste by the London Ambulance Service,” she said.
“Mr Modeste had been found unresponsive in his bedroom by his family. London Ambulance Service were unable to revive him.”
He was declared dead at 2.25pm that afternoon.
The death was referred to the court, which ordered a post-mortem examination, carried out at East Ham Public Mortuary on July 2.
A pathologist gave Mr Modeste’s cause of death as “acute alcohol intoxication” against a background of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
Assistant coroner Ian Wade KC said evidence found during the post-mortem suggested Mr Modeste had not died from the slow, cumulative effects of long-term alcohol abuse.
“Here, the post-mortem reveals that Desmond’s ingestion of alcohol was at such a high level that it had an acute poisoning effect there and then,” he said.
As such, he said, this was an unnatural death which “need to be investigated” under the law.
“An inquest is necessary,” he concluded.
Coroners are required to hold public investigations into all unnatural or unexplained deaths and whether future similar deaths might be avoidable.
The final inquest was provisionally scheduled for January and Mr Wade said he would ask his staff to begin gathering relevant evidence, which typically includes GP records, and contemporaneous records or witness statements from the emergency services who attended the scene.
“This matter is opened and now adjourned,” said Mr Wade.
