AN ALCOHOLIC retired builder fled hospital, before collapsing and dying in the street in wintry conditions, an inquest heard today.

Retired builder Gurcharan Sagoo, 61, of Buttsbury Road, Ilford, was being treated for advanced liver disease at Newham General Hospital in the days leading up to his death, on February 4.

But Mr Sagoo, who while in hospital kept asking his son Peter for money so he could buy alcohol, left the hospital and hours later was found dead.

Mr Sagoo's son Peter said: “Alcohol had been a problem for the last 15 or 20 years of my dad's life.

“He would be drinking pretty much most of the day, I would find him in the morning and he would be tipsy at 9am.”

A search of the hospital grounds proved fruitless and Mr Sagoo was next spotted a few hours later in Albert Road by his wife Constance.

She attempted to persuade him to return to hospital but he refused.

At 1.30am two nurse support workers found Mr Sagoo lying in Albert Road, outside Oakfield Lodge sheltered housing scheme.

He was unconscious, with injuries to his face and left eye and bleeding from the mouth, believed to be caused by a fall.

He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead at 3.14am.

The cause of death was given as alcoholic liver disease.

Dr William Dolman, recording a verdict of death by natural causes today, said: “This is a man who had been over-using or abusing alcohol for many years and it had taken its affect on his body and particular his liver functions.”