A full inquest will be held into the death of a Shropshire man found with injuries to his face and ribs, a coroner has ruled.

A home office consultant's report, read at a pre-inquest review on Tuesday morning (September 10) at Shropshire’s Coroner court, said Robin Dugmore, 52, died "with and not from" the "considerable" injuries he had suffered.

Mr Dugmore, who lived in St Martins, was found dead in a property in Isherwoods Way in Wem just before Christmas (December 23).

Senior coroner John Ellery decided that a full inquest would be required - which Mr Dugmore's family had also requested - as they sought further information from the three people who were with him when he died.

Emergency medical teams were called to the address, the hearing was told, and Mr Dugmore was found in the kitchen area.

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CPR was administered for 15 minutes before Mr Dugmore was transported to Royal Stoke University Hospital.

All four people at the address were intoxicated, the hearing was told, and Mr Dugmore was found to have a blood alcohol level of 285 milligrams per decilitre – by comparison, the legal limit for driving is 80.

He also showed signs of “considerable” injuries including to his face. When at the hospital Mr Dugmore was given an MRI scan which found he had suffered fractured ribs.

The three people with him have said that Mr Dugmore fell down the stairs two days before his death.

However, the court heard that one of the people there had also accused the other two of assaulting Mr Dugmore.

Due to the nature of his death the coroner had ordered a post-mortem from Home Office consultant Dr Brett Lockyer.

Dr Lockyer concluded that Mr Dugmore “died with these injuries not because of them” and that death was caused either by cardiac arrhythmia or possibly by “sudden unexplained death in alcohol misuse” – although this was thought to be less likely as Mr Dugmore’s blood alcohol level was above the normal levels associated with this cause of death.

However, Mr Dugmore’s family, who were present at court, told Mr Ellery they were not convinced of this conclusion and wished for the full inquest to go forward, emphasising the claims of an assault.

Mr Ellery decided to proceed to a full inquest in which the three people with Mr Dugmore at the time of his death will be called as witnesses along with Dr Lockyer.