A MAN turned to alcohol and began spending time with drug users after he convinced himself that he had cancer, an inquest heard.

Colin Berry, 49, died at the West Cumberland Hospital after going into cardiac arrest at a property in Salterbeck, Workington on February 11 last year.

At an inquest into his death held at Cockermouth Coroners’ Court on Thursday, Mr Berry’s sister, Carol said he was a popular boy growing up, who had lots of friends. He was always playing out and enjoyed building bikes.

He had been with his partner, Andrea, since 1990 and they had two children together.

Before his death, Mr Berry had become convinced he had prostate cancer, despite having tests which had ruled out the disease.

His family said he began drinking after he attended the funeral of a friend who had died from prostate cancer and he was never sober again.

They became worried about his behaviour and had called an ambulance for him because they thought he was having a breakdown.

His partner believed he needed medical help and wanted him to be taken to hospital. She became more and more concerned about his behaviour and asked police to section him.

She said he was hanging around with hard drug users and in normal times “would not have given these people the time of day”.

The inquest heard that Mr Berry had been arrested for criminal damage on January 24 last year. Police located him at an address on Casson Road in Workington and he was intoxicated.

The arresting officer said Mr Berry did not mention anything about his mental health and had been asked the risk assessment questions by the custody sergeant.

The officer said at no point did he have any concerns for Mr Berry’s mental health. He said Mr Berry clearly had alcohol addiction and could have accessed help while in custody but chose not to.

His family told the inquest that they had hoped he would be kept in custody as they became increasingly desperate for him to get help.

The inquest also heard a statement from paramedic Alan Barnes, who attended a property on Salterbeck Road in Workington on February 11 last year.

He said Mr Berry was in the living room and had gone into cardiac arrest. He said there were some people in the house who appeared to be under the influence of drugs.

Paramedics worked on Mr Berry for 45 minutes before he was taken to West Cumberland Hospital but he could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead.

A post mortem report revealed Mr Berry had used cocaine before his death and had a high level of alcohol in his system.

The most significant finding was that he had a “massively enlarged” heart. He also had liver steatosis – a build-up of fat in the liver.

The medical cause of death was given as acute alcohol intoxication and hypertensive heart disease.

Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw said: “It’s such a shame. A gentleman who was fit and healthy. If he could have seen what he was when he was 20, what he was when he was 40-something, he would be horrified.”

Giving a narrative conclusion, Dr Shaw said Mr Berry’s death was not simply due to alcohol and there were other factors.