Alcohol binge Winehouse five times over limit

The inquest into her death heard that Amy Winehouse was poisoned by a “fatal” amount of alcohol in her body when she died in July.

The hearing was told the singer had not drunk at all in the three weeks leading up to the night of Friday 22 July. She was found dead in bed in her Camden home in north London the following day, surrounded by empty vodka bottles.

The inquest heard her security guard looked in on her at 10am the day she died but left her for five hours before calling the emergency services.

The unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden and unexpected death. Suzanne Greenway, coroner

The live-in guard, Andrew Morris, said he thought she was asleep when he first checked on her, but at 3pm he checked again and she had not moved.

St Pancras coroner Suzanne Greenway said: “She had consumed sufficient alcohol at 416mg per decilitre (of blood) and the unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden and unexpected death.”

A statement was released on behalf of the Winehouse family.

It read: “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 of alcohol in her system 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.

It is a source of great pain to us that she could not win her battle with alcohol in time. Family statement

“It underlines how important our work with the Amy Winehouse Foundation is to us, to help as many young people and children as we can in her name.

“It means a lot to us and from the overwhelming messages of support we have had since Amy died, we know she meant a great deal to people all over the world. We want to thank everyone for that and for their continuing enthusiasm for the foundation.”

Amy Winehouse was regarded as one of Britain’s most talented female singers of her generation. Her album Back to Black, featuring the classic song of the same title, returned to number one in the album charts following her death.

The album’s producer Mark Ronson said: “She was my musical soulmate and like a sister to me.”