Man was 'too old to change his ways'

12:01pm Friday 9th May 2008

RETIRED scaffolder William Roberts liked a drink and a smoke, an inquest was told yesterday.

The 67-year-old, described in one medical report as an "inveterate drinker and smoker", resisted calls to change his ways, despite becoming increasingly unsteady on his feet.

His wife Janet was in bed when her husband, returning from a visit to his social club, fell heavily in the kitchen of their home in Esk Street, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, in September.

She rushed downstairs to find him lying on the kitchen floor.

He told her: "I am not going to hospital, I'm all right.'' Mrs Roberts kept her husband in bed the next day, but when he complained of not feeling himself, she had him admitted to Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital, where he died six days later.

The retired hotel receptionist told an inquest in Middlesbrough: "He had been ill for a while.'' Coroner Michael Sheffield heard that Mr Roberts had sclerosis of the liver, a "significantly'' enlarged heart and was alcohol dependent.

He sustained a head injury through his fall and developed bronchial pneumonia as a result of the injury.

Ruling that Mr Roberts died as a result of an accident, Mr Sheffield said: "He liked his drinking and, as he explained to his wife, he enjoyed going to the club and he was too old to change his way of life.''

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