Mr Michael Cartmell (38) was found collapsed at his home in Cuerdale Street, Burnley, on May 16th last year. An inquest at Burnley Coroner's Court heard he had been drinking and had taken a prescribed anti-psychosis drug.

The hearing heard how Mr Cartmell had lost a friend while serving with the Army in Northern Ireland. He had served with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and Scots Guards.

The Express reported last May that Mr Cartmell had fought a 14-year battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. He had attended Briercliffe Primary and Mansfield High Schools and grew up in Briercliffe.
He developed an enthusiasm for the military from a very early age and joined the Sea Cadet Corps aged 12.

Pathologist Dr Abdul Al-Dawoud, who conducted the post-mortem examination, said toxological tests showed Mr Cartmell had a level of alcohol in his system above the legal driving limit. He also had six times the therapeutic level of the drug quetiapine. Dr Al-Dawoud gave the cause of death as the combined effect of the two.

The inquest heard from Mr Cartmell's mother, Mrs Shirley Paice, who said he had taken a lot of knocks in his life but was a lovely person.
She said: "Michael suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his Army days but was a very popular and perfectly normal person. He always drank heavily but was a very proud man."

The inquest heard from Mr Cartmell's friend, Linda Henderson, who described how she visited him to take away the medication and leave him only the tablets he needed. However, on the week he died, she was ill and unable to visit.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, East Lancashire Coroner Mr Richard Taylor said: "Mr Cartmell had a problem with drink and had difficulty in administering his own medication. On the day he died it seems he was under the influence and had forgotten how many tablets he had taken."