A RUNCORN alcoholic found lying in Murdishaw woods may have died from hypothermia after falling down an embankment, an inquest in Warrington heard tod

Police mounted a search after Brendan Reece, 55, known as ‘Brenny’, of Coronation Road, Preston Brook, went missing on November 25, last year.

His body was found the following morning near Sexton Close after his sister raised the alarm.

He had been drinking cider with his friend Dan Copeley but disappeared on his way home at around 4pm.

A police investigation concluded his death was not suspicious.

Mr Reece’s sister, Catherine Allister, 53, told the inquest her brother met Alison McLoughlin when he was 25.

They had a baby but separated a year later.

When his ex-girlfriend died, he was unable to care for his son, then 12, because he was homeless and addicted to alcohol, the hearing was told.

“It sent him over the edge and caused him to start drinking,” said Mrs Allister.

In 1998, Mr Reece was assaulted in Runcorn and left with serious head injuries.

“I don’t think he ever recovered,” she added.

“He seemed slower and couldn’t comprehend things. His memory was not good.”

Mr Reece moved in with his sister and worked as a fabricator but lost his job through drink.

Four years ago, he fell off a mountain bike, causing a severe knee injury which led to infections.

His health deteriorated and he developed degenerative spine disease.

“It caused him to be bent over and he walked with a hump,” said his sister.

“He seemed to become an old man quite rapidly.”

The week before he died, she said, he had experienced dizzy spells after falling while drunk and hitting his head on a radiator.

Consultant pathologist Dr Catherine Manson was unable to ascertain a cause of death at a post mortem.

Tests did not find any significant levels of alcohol in his blood.

However, after hearing all the evidence, the ‘most likely explanation’, she said, was hypothermia.

Assistant coroner for Cheshire Michael Wallbank recorded a verdict of misadventure.