A PUB manager died after being left in a nine-month coma following a fall down the stairs at his home.

Andrew Daly, 43, suffered numerous brain injuries when he hit his head after falling down the stairs on March 23, 2017, in Ampleforth, and remained in a coma until his death on December 17, 2017.

An inquest at Northallerton’s Evolution Centre on Wednesday, heard that Mr Daly had been drinking heavily during the day at pubs in the area, including the Royal Oak in Nunnington, where he was bar manager.

Landlady of the Royal Oak, Nunnington, and girlfriend of Mr Daly, Abigail Greetham, said he had started drinking at lunchtime with friends despite being at work, and said he had been stressed about seeing his brother that day.

She said: “We got up and he started preparing the bar at around 10.30am for opening up at 12. Some of his friends came in and he was drinking with them. We were quiet, but I warned him to slow down his drinking as he was getting drunk.

“At around 2.30pm he went to see his brother. He had not been getting on with him very well so was stressed about it, it was not usual for him to be drinking so much but in the previous couple of months he had been stressed and drinking more.”

Miss Greetham said despite telling Mr Daly to sober up, he returned at 5.30pm still drunk, and she had heard he had visited other pubs in the local area.

She said: “I sent him home at 8.30pm as I was annoyed at how drunk he was.”

His brother, Nicholas Daly, told the inquest he was living with Mr Daly at the time of the fall.

He said: “I was at home on my own in the morning and Andrew came back at around lunchtime, he had been at the pub in Nunnington.

“He was in a good mood despite me telling him I had altered our joint account to put it solely in my name. He was relaxed, I could tell he’d had a couple of pints by then but he was cheerful.”

Mr Daly went back out, and Nicholas Daly said he went to bed early at around 9pm.

He added: “I was in bed when I heard the door go, I shouted downstairs and Andrew replied it was him, and then I heard a thud.

“I got out of bed and looked downstairs, Andrew was lying at the bottom on his back and not moving. I could tell it was bad, blood was coming out of his ear.”

Mr Daly was taken to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, before being transferred to York Hospital, and finally Goole Neuro Rehabilitation Centre, where he died.

Coroner Richard Watson gave a conclusion of accidental death.