A man whose life went “downhill” after the death of his father died after a fall at his Gwernaffield home.

Gareth Marc Evans, 45, fell backwards onto a table and suffered a bleed on his brain.

He was transferred from Wrexham Maelor to the Royal Stoke Hospital, where he underwent surgery, but his condition deteriorated and he died on April 11.

His wife, Suzanne Evans, told a Ruthin inquest that her husband - who had set up his own consultancy in 2007 after working as a food technologist – had been a very active person.

But after his father passed away in 2012 he suffered from depression and was prescribed anti-depressants and underwent counselling.

He came off medication, but his wife said she got the impression “he was going downhill again” last year as he was drinking heavily and appeared unsteady on his feet having had a few falls.

Early on April 2 she heard a crash and saw her husband standing in the hallway, but the dining room table had "nearly been demolished".

“I thought he might have fallen backwards on the table and all the chairs were scattered everywhere," she said.

She said her husband was "swaying" and later heard another crash and saw he was at the bottom of the stairs and there was a half empty bottle of vodka nearby.

He didn't appear to have any visible injuries and he told his wife he was going to sleep in another room.

When she checked on him at midday the next day she saw he had suffered a black eye and bruising around his face.

She said he then appeared to have a seizure and he paramedics attended and took him to Wrexham Maelor.

Later a CT scan at the Stoke medical complex revealed he had suffered a bleed in the brain and there was evidence of cranial pressure.

A post-mortem revealed the cause of death was multi-organ failure due to a brain injury exacerbated by liver disease from alcohol dependency, hypertension and a poor diet.

His GP Dr Steven Fielding from the Bradley Medical Centre said he saw Mr Evans collapsed in his surgery in February this year and he had referred him to the mental health team.

His wife said her husband started to develop a drink problem in 2012, but added: “He was a heavy drinker, but it went crazy this time last year.”

Assistant Coroner for North Wales East and Central Joanne Lees concluded that Mr Evans died as a result of an accident.

His wife said in a statement read to the hearing that although depressed her husband wasn’t suicidal.

“He was a really kind person who always tried to put other people first. He loved to travel, he loved his family and he will be sadly missed by all of us," she said.