Tom Voyce was almost three times over the drink-drive limit when he attempted to cross a swollen ford during a storm, an inquest has heard.
Voyce, 43, died while trying to cross the River Aln in Northumberland in his Toyota Hilux in December, as Storm Darragh passed through the UK.
His body was found days later in deep water.
At County Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland, an inquest heard that Voyce had attended a shoot at his brother-in-law’s farm on December 7 last year, before spending the evening with him and two other men in the Queen’s Head pub in Glanton.
Hugh Wood, brother of Voyce's widow Anna, said he last saw him at about 11:45pm in the bar. Wood said they drank alcohol in the pub but that he observed no ill-effects in Voyce that evening.
Wood added that the storm had left local roads water-logged. Some parts were flooded and winds were still gusting at 30mph that night. The distance to the Voyces' home in Alnwick was estimated at about eight miles, but Voyce had not taken his usual route home.
Anna Voyce raised the alarm the next day when her husband failed to come home. Wood said "it dawned on us to look in the fords and that's where we came across his vehicle".
A diver found Voyce on December 12 in two metres of water in a mill pond.
Pathologist Dr Clive Bloxham told the hearing the cause of death was immersion in water, noting that Voyce was "a well-built, muscular man" and that there were no signs of external or internal damage.
Toxicology tests showed no sign of drugs “but he did have a high blood alcohol level”, Dr Bloxham said.
A reading of 215 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood was detected. The drink drive limit is 80 milligrams.
“This is over two-and-a-half, nearly three times that limit,” Dr Bloxham added.
“Despite the possibility of tolerance to drinking alcohol, this level would be expected to have impaired his co-ordination and judgment.
“You would expect him to have a significant degree of intoxication with this level and impaired decision-making prior to his death.”
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
