Homeless man found dead on Whitstable beach died from drink
A HOMELESS man found dead near beach huts in Whitstable probably drank himself to death, an inquest heard.
The body of Iain Gremo, 52, was discovered on West Beach, where he had been sleeping rough, on the morning of Saturday, April 14.
Pathologist Dr Miklos Perenyei told the inquest at Canterbury on Thursday (June 7) that a post-mortem examination revealed there was 323mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which he said would be enough to induce a coma in some people.
The doctor said there was also a fatal level of an acid common in alcoholics. He gave the cause of death as alcoholic intoxication.
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Dr Dinesh Sivaprasad, Mr Gremo's GP at the Whitstable Health Centre, said Mr Gremo depended on alcohol. He could drink up to a litre of spirits a day as well as Guinness.
He had been offered help by East Kent Alcohol Services in the last two years but did not take it.
Mr Gremo was treated for hypothermia on February 17 after he was discovered sleeping outside a shop.
Dr Sivaprasad said: "He accepted he had a drink problem and was ready to receive help. By February he had cut down and was drinking two to three pints of Guinness a day rather than the ten pints he used to have.
"He had sold his house and was looking to buy a smaller one in Whitstable."
Mr Gremo's son Scott Bradley Wood said his father had never married and was unemployed and homeless when he died.
Mr Gremo grew up in Whitstable and went to Whitstable Boys' School.
He was the guitarist in rock band Bad Apples until a few years ago and played with them at Camden's famous Barfly venue. Former band mate Dom Sullivan said Mr Gremo was one of Whitstable's most talented musicians.
Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Rebecca Cobb said Mr Gremo had a history of long-term alcohol consumption and a beta-hydroxybutyric level of 1.97mg per litre, almost four times a fatal dose.
Band mates are entering one of Mr Gremo's recordings of 2 Days 'til Tuesday while in Bad Apples in a competition on website You Bloom. The public can vote for the song from Monday, July 16.
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