A MENTAL health patient found dead in a toilet had choked on his food while eating fish and chips, an inquest heard.

Eric Lovering, 54, was found wedged between the toilet bowl and wall at the supported accommodation where he lived in Winklebury, Basingstoke, on October 17.

The inquest at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard that a combination of alcohol and his prescribed medication for his paranoid schizophrenia may have impaired Mr Lovering’s ability to dislodge the food.

Earlier that day, two unknown men had carried a drunken Mr Lovering back to his home at Portals House, in Wellington Terrace.

The house is run by Stonham Housing Association for up to 15 people with mental health |conditions.

Support worker Lenina Rogerson said Mr Lovering was “clearly drunk”, despite having been told not to drink alcohol while on his medication, when he returned at 5pm.

He was taken to his room and put in the recovery position to sleep it off.

The inquest heard she next saw him at 8pm, when he was walking to the toilet.

She said she noticed he had wet himself and thought she could see vomit on his jumper.

After he changed, he said he was hungry, and Ms Rogerson said it was agreed that Mr Lovering, who she said was “much more with it”, could eat a meal of fish, chips and mushy peas in his room. But at 8.45pm, another resident told staff Mr Lovering had fallen over in the toilet.

Ms Rogerson said: “When I got to the corridor, I could see Eric in the toilet. His knees were on the floor and his torso was on top of the bowl with his arm hanging down. It did not look right and I called 999 to get help.”

A post-mortem found a chunk of food was completely covering Mr Lovering’s trachea.

Andrew Bradley, coroner for North East Hampshire, recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. He said: “It may well be that a combination of alcohol and medication rendered him incapable to gag or wretch. It’s a very unfortunate outcome.”