The death of a Newtown man which sparked an investigation into police actions was alcohol-related, an inquest heard.

Brian Jones, 55, died at a property in Newtown town centre on February 16, 2019.

An inquest held in Welshpool Town Hall on Tuesday, March 3, heard that Mr Jones was found “heavily intoxicated” at 3 St Mary’s Close after drinking a large amount of alcohol throughout the day.

PC 78 O’Rourke and PC 46 Townsend said in written statements read out at the inquest that they found Mr Jones mumbling and lying on the floor. PC O’Rourke said that he had “no concern” with the position Mr Jones was lying in, and called a police sargeant for advice. The officers left Mr Jones in the care of people inside the property while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

Later that evening, police received a report of a cardiac arrest at 3 St Mary’s Close. Mr Jones was pronounced dead by paramedics at 10.59pm after unsuccessful attempts to revive him following a heart attack.

The post mortem found that Mr Jones had 374mg of alcohol per decilitre in his blood, which is four times the legal driving limit.

The coroner concluded that Mr Jones’s death was alcohol-related.

The inquest heard that an investigation was carried out by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following Mr Jones’ death resulted in two police officers receiving management advice.

Becky Carr, IOPC media officer, said: “Dyfed-Powys Police agreed that the two officers who attended his property prior to his death did not have a case to answer for misconduct, but they should receive management action to help them learn from the incident.

“We found that while the officers took some action, they could have been more proactive in ensuring medical assistance was on its way.

“It is however acknowledged that even if the incident was handled differently by officers, sadly, there is no guarantee that the outcome would have been different for Mr Jones. Our thoughts continue to be with his family and friends at this time.”