The coroner has finally revealed Amy Winehouse’s cause of death: high levels of alcohol killed her. An inquest has heard that she died from alcohol poisoning after binge drinking following a period of abstinence.
At the time of her death she had 416mg of alcohol per decilitre in her blood, which is 5 times more than the legal driving limit. The coroner, Suzanne Greenway, said:
The unintended consequences of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden death.
Amy’s GP, Dr Christina Romete explained that Amy developed an alcohol problem in 2008 after coming off hard drugs. She fell into a pattern of abstaining from alcohol for a short period then she would binge again.
Romete had seen Winehouse the evening before her death on July 22nd and described her as “tipsy”. Winehouse stated to her that she hadn’t had a drink for 3 weeks but had started drinking again on July 20th a few days before.
Andrew Morris, Winehouse’s bodyguard, said he had returned from holidays three days before her death, and noticed she was drinking. He said she drank moderately for the next few days “She wasn’t drinking to get drunk”.
In a statement after the inquest Amy’s Parents said:
It is some relief to finally find out what happened to Amy. We understand there was alcohol in her system when she passed away; it is likely a build-up over a number of days.
The court heard that Amy was battling hard to conquer her problems with alcohol, and it is a source of great pain to us that she could not win in time. She had started drinking again that week after a period of abstinence.
Watch: Amy Winehouse – Tears Dry On Their Own
