A FORMER Sale pub landlord found dead by his son had only days earlier refused to go to hospital with paramedics after collapsing.

An inquest in to the death of former Ryan’s Bar manager, Anthony Shaw, heard how ambulance crews had attended his Norris Road home in February after suffering a collapse, but refused hospital treatment.

Six days later the body of Mr Shaw, a 67-year-old former logistics driver with the Parachute Regiment and father of six, was found on the floor of his bedrooom by son Arron.

The inquest heard Mr Shaw had battled alcohol dependancy for much of his adult life and since leaving Ryan’s Bar in 2009 had started drinking more, usually vodka. This increase in alcohol consumption, the court heard, was accompanied by a marked deterioration in his health, his son Arron said whilst giving evidence.

“He spent most of his time drinking after leaving Ryan’s Bar. He didn’t eat that much either - junk really,” he added.

The inquest also heard how in the weeks before his death he had complained of stomach upsets, which included vomitting and diarrhoea, and two years previously had presented to his GP with symptoms of erratic heart beat and breathlessness. These were all symptoms of alcoholic ketoacidosis, a conditioon which affects the liver and kidneys and can prove fatal.

Deputy coroner Joanne Kearsley said an autopsy had shown this condition was the main cause of Mr Shaw’s death, alongside alcoholic liver disease.

“This is a naturally occuring condition, and therefore I’m going to record natural causes,” she said.