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26 October 2011updated 27 Sep 2015 4:03am

Amy Winehouse: accidental alcohol poisoning

The singer was five times over the legal drink-drive limit when she died.

By Samira Shackle

Amy Winehouse died as an unintended consequence of drinking too much, an inquest into her death has heard.

Recording a verdict of “misadventure” — meaning that the death was accidental, not due to crime or negligence — the coroner said that the singer had 416mg of alcohol per 100ml in her blood, five times the legal driving limit of 80mg.

The pathologist who carried out the post-mortem told the court that a person with anything above 350mg in their blood can involuntarily stop breathing and fall into a coma. No illegal substances were found in her blood.

The court heard that Winehouse had abstained from alcohol for three weeks, but had hit the bottle again in the days before her death, despite being warned of the dangers. Her GP, Dr Christina Romete, told the inquest that the singer “did not want to die” and was “looking forward to the future”.

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The 27-year-old singer, best known for her second album Back To Black, was found dead at her home in Camden, north London, on 23 July, after a well-documented battle with drugs and alcohol.

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