Northern Ireland

Joint inquests held to expose dangers of alcoholism

Coroner Joe McCrisken has warned of the dangers of alcoholism
Coroner Joe McCrisken has warned of the dangers of alcoholism Coroner Joe McCrisken has warned of the dangers of alcoholism

A CORONER has taken the unusual step of holding a joint inquest into the deaths of four alcoholics to highlight the dangers of excessive drinking.

Belfast coroner Joe McCrisken said he wanted to show the damage of alcohol abuse, with three of the deaths occurring on the same day last March.

One of the men was just 36 years old and was drinking 100 tins of beer a week.

Mr McCrisken warned that the number of officially recorded alcohol-related deaths were the "tip of the iceberg", the BBC reported yesterday.

Latest government figures show there were almost 1,300 deaths in Northern Ireland between 2013 and 2017, of which 887 were men.

One of the inquests related to a 48-year-old man who had consumed seven times the legal drink-driving limit of alcohol - the highest level the coroner said he had ever come across.

State Pathologist Dr James Lynas told the hearing that they are seeing young adults in their 20s dying from chronic alcoholism.

"This is a disease that straddles all parts of society from the wealthiest and most privileged to the most disadvantaged areas as well," he said.

Figures form the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency show that while men account for the majority of deaths, there was a 65 per cent increase of the number of women dying from alcohol abuse between 2013 and 2017.

But the statistics fail to show the number of alcohol-related deaths linked to car accidents, cancers and house fires, according to Mr McCrisken, and "underplay" the extent of the crisis.