A Bradford man died of alcohol poisoning after being left in his car

A father-of-four from Bradford has died after being left in a car to ‘fall asleep’ on a heavy drinking session by friends who didn’t check on him for several hours.

Umar Aziz, 35, from Manningham, had been socializing in a car owned by one of the men before he was found unconscious inside his vehicle in May 2021, Bradford Coroner’s Court heard.

Two of the men returned the next day, found Mr Aziz unresponsive and began CPR while they waited for an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

An inquest found on Friday that Mr Aziz died of alcohol poisoning after drinking a bottle and a half of brandy.

Post-mortem tests showed he had 330mg of alcohol in his system – four times the 80mg drink-drive limit.

The inquest was told the young father had gone to a complex on Rebecca Street just before midnight on Saturday, May 22, after leaving the package he was holding.

He gave two £20 notes to one of his friends to buy two bottles of Hennessy brandy, which he then proceeded to drink straight from a plastic cup.

At around 02:40 BST he started to feel ill and just after 03:00 he was put in the back of the car by three of his friends before the group left the prison.

Two of the men returned just after lunch to find Mr Aziz impatient.

CCTV footage showed one of the men pouring liquid from a bottle of Lucozade into Mr Aziz’s mouth, but it was never established what it was.

West Yorkshire Police investigated but no charges were laid.

Coroner Martin Fleming noted that the men’s mobile phone records had been wiped overnight and there were inconsistencies in their witness accounts, but they were all under the influence of drink and drugs at the time of the incident.

The inquest heard that at no stage was Mr Aziz pressured or coerced to drink alcohol, he was not encouraged and no “drinking games” took place.

The cause of death was given as acute alcohol intoxication.

Mr Fleming said it could not be conclusively established whether Mr Aziz would have survived if medical attention had been sought earlier.

He said it was more than likely that Mr Aziz, who had a history of heavy drinking, had misjudged the toxicity of the brandy, with fatal consequences.

Mr Aziz’s father, Mohabbat, was at the hearing along with other family members, including Mr Aziz’s wife.

Addressing the family, the coroner said: “Losing a beloved son, a husband, a father of four in these unexpected circumstances must be so hard to bear.”