A grandfather died after drinking several shots of 97% proof moonshine with a friend, an inquest heard.
Karl Edgeller, 57, was offered the liquor by his mate Paul Johnson and the pair began challenging each other to drink more of it.
The were at Mr Johnson’s home in Weeting, Norfolk, on March 3 last year, together with Mr Edgeller’s partner of seven years, Sharon Willoughby.
Speaking at the inquest, Ms Willoughby said: ‘Johnno (Mr Johnson) told him about the moonshine and said ‘would you like to try some?’
‘He said his mate gave it to him.
‘I didn’t think anything of it as they used to drink moonshine together.’
She said that they ‘just started drinking it and challenging each other’
‘Every time he’s with Johnno they got totally obliterated and it’s hard going,’ she added.
She said she went home and returned later to help a woman – Ellie Wing – who was moving items out of a room at Mr Johnson’s house.
Ms Willoughby assumed the men were asleep, then, when they went to leave, she noticed Mr Edgeller was in the same position as earlier.
She then touched his hand and found it was cold.
Mr Johnson, meanwhile, who works as a driver, said in a statement he had drunk a bottle of whiskey and some moonshine before Mr Edgeller joined him at his home.
He said he bought the moonshine from a colleague and that it had been imported from Estonia.
The hearing in Norwich was told the colleague had been identified and said he told Mr Johnson the drink ‘was to be diluted’.
(Picture: Family Handout/PA Wire)
‘He said it was 97% alcohol ethanol and was flammable,’ Mr Johnson said.
He continued: ‘Karl has previously drunk moonshine with me – the last time was five to six years ago.
‘That was my produce.’
Mr Johnson said he woke up in hospital the morning after the drinking session with Mr Edgeller and did not know how he got there.
In an interview with police, Mr Johnson said the moonshine ‘got through customs and into the UK as it was put on the paperwork it was antifreeze’.
The inquest heard Mr Johnson ‘didn’t administer the substance to him (Mr Edgeller) nor did he disguise the contents’.
Ms Willoughby had filmed the men drinking shots of the drink on her phone. The video was not played at the hearing.
Norfolk’s senior coroner, Jacqueline Lake, recording a conclusion of misadventure, said Mr Edgeller was aware the alcohol was strong.
She said it was ‘set alight in his presence and he was heaving as he drank it’.
‘They encouraged each other to drink the moonshine and egged each other on,’ the coroner said.
She said that Mr Edgeller, who had sleep apnoea, did not have his CPAP machine with him – a machine that pumps air into a mask worn over your nose or mouth while you sleep.
She said he was slumped forward with his head resting on a coffee table, noting the ‘potential for positional asphyxia’, and that he was on prescription medication at the time.
The medical cause of his death was recorded as alcohol and duloxetine co-toxicity in combination with sleep apnoea and positional asphyxia.
‘He knew he had sleep apnoea, he was responsible for his own wellbeing,’ the coroner said.
Mr Edgeller’s daughter, Karlynn West, said he was a ‘brilliant, intelligent man and a fantastic father and grandfather’.
She said her father, a former welder, had titanium plates and pins in his back, and that these had dislodged after a subsequent road traffic accident.
She said he ‘had to give up work’, and GP notes detailed multiple appointments to do with the pain.
Ms Willoughby said Mr Edgeller had ‘cut right down’ on his drinking ‘but if he wanted a drink he would make the most of it and have a major session’.
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