A MAN who was found lifeless outside a telephone box near one of the exits to a Dublin hospital had been dead for a number of hours when the alarm was raised, an inquest has heard.
Daniel Christian (35), Rafters Avenue, Drimnagh, Dublin was discovered by a passerby huddled against a wall and a phonebox on the South Circular Road, near St James’s Hospital on March 29th, 2008.
The alarm was raised about midday when a passerby noticed Mr Christian, who was in a sitting position, and called the emergency services, Dublin City Coroner’s Court heard yesterday.
He had been dead for a number of hours.
A postmortem found Mr Christian died of acute alcohol intoxication with 364 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system at the time of death.
Any level over 350 milligrams per cent of alcohol is potentially fatal for males.
The coroner Dr Brian Farrell recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
Garda Marina Cooney of Kilmainham Garda station told the inquest Mr Christian was found beside a phonebox outside the grounds of St James’s Hospital.
Garda Cooney agreed with coroner Dr Brian Farrell that it was a busy area, but told the court that Mr Christian was between the phonebox and a wall and was, “huddled up”.
“We had been on duty since 6.00am, but nobody had reported it until midday,” she said.
Mr Christian had a difficulty with alcohol and had problems with heroin in the past, the inquest heard. He was known to staff at St James’s Hospital and had six attendances at the facility in March 2008, mostly due to overconsumption of alcohol.