Coroner: drink in pubs not at home on cheap booze

A coroner in Norfolk has urged people to drink in the "sensible and sociable" environment of the pub rather than supping on cheap alcohol at home after noting a rise in deaths.

Greater Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said that he had noticed an increase in deaths from acute alcohol poisoning.

"I think there's no doubt that there is research which shows there's a link between deaths involving excessive drinking and readily available very cheap alcohol and I think we need to encourage more people to drink sociably and sensibly in pubs instead of going out and purchasing cheap alcohol from supermarkets," he told the Norwich Evening News​.

"We need to have fewer people drinking simply to get drunk because that is dangerous and there's a number of cases where people have drunk themselves to death.

"Drinking ought to be a social activity and part of social interaction rather than an end in itself.

"That's why I support drinking in pubs. Pubs, for the most part, encourage sensible, social drinking. I think that's a point that needs to be made. It's been made by the pubs, but it needs to be made by other people as well.

"Most of the people who have drunk themselves to death have not been drinking in pubs — they've purchased cheap drinks from supermarkets.

"People have died from alcohol poisoning which has resulted in them spending less than £10 — that's the nonsense of it."