THE husband of a man found dead at a hotel in Barnsley said he was a ‘wonderful man’ who could not overcome his drinking.
Ian Michael Pipes, 38, of Kirker Close, Goldthorpe, was found dead in his room at the Holiday Inn at Dodworth on May 16, 2017.
An inquest was told he drank heavily and appeared to have tripped and banged his head.
Following the inquest, his husband Gavin Sutton said: “He was a wonderful man. He had an illness and he couldn’t find his way back. You don’t expect to become a widower at this age.”
In her pathology report, Dr Melanie Levy said Mr Pipes was seen on CCTV returning to the hotel and appeared drunk and unsteady. He was last seen by staff when he went up to his room. But he did not check out the next day, prompting staff to check his room.
They used a skeleton key to gain entry, and Mr Pipes was found with a chest injury. Staff then called the police.
Dr Levy noted there was a broken wine glass with a fragment of blood on it, and said Mr Pipes appeared to have tripped over.
She listed the cause of death as a traumatic head injury, alcohol excess and alcoholic liver disease.
Dr Amanda Fleur Ashby, clinical director of Recovery Steps Barnsley, a substance misuse treatment programme, said Mr Pipes had been released from prison at the end of last March and was referred by the probation service for an assessment, during which he said he wanted to abstain from alcohol.
But he missed an appointment and was taken to Barnsley Hospital by ambulance because he had been drinking heavily. He missed another appointment, and staff were later told he attended A and E.
He was seen on a ward where he was undergoing a detox programme, but was found to have hidden alcohol in his bedside locker. Mr Pipes was also said to have been smoking in bed, and a mutual discharge agreement was reached. Despite this, he said he wanted to get help, but died before his next appointment with Recovery Steps Barnsley.
Mr Sutton said: “I was visiting him in hospital and he wasn’t himself. Over the years I have seen him heavily intoxicated, but it was different. He was confused.
“He wasn’t a bad person, he was an amazing person. He went to university and he was a policeman when he was younger. He just couldn’t find his way back.
“We all tried to help him as best we could. It was difficult circumstances.”
Mr Sutton also asked why Mr Pipes was not prescribed antabuse - which is used to treat alcoholism - when he was released from prison. But assistant coroner Tanyka Rawden said the question should be taken up with the prison or probation officer.
In 2016, Mr Pipes was arrested for affray and while he was in custody, he told staff he’d had thoughts about harming himself.
Elizabeth Clayton, a senior mental health practitioner at Barnsley Hospital said in a statement that Mr Pipes was seen on five occasions by the mental health team. On one occasion, Mr Pipes said he felt suicidal and was drinking 40 units of alcohol per day. But he had run out of money and was experiencing alcohol withdrawal.
Mrs Rawden concluded Mr Pipes’s death was an accidental one, albeit contributed to by alcohol.
