"A FANTASTIC father" died in hospital after collapsing at home following a drinking session with his friends, an inquest heard.

Neil McIsaac, of Cragg Street, died at the age of 37 in Furness General Hospital following a cardiac arrest at home, The Coroner's Court in Cockermouth was told.

He had been drinking with his partner Shannon Woodburn and two of his friends on April 30, 2021, at his home after meeting at Furness Railway. His friend Michael Storey described Mr McIsaac coming downstairs after visiting the bathroom "looking dazed" and subsequently collapsed and it became apparent that he stopped breathing.

Mr McIsaac died the following day after being taken to hospital where he did not regain consciousness.

Fiona McIsaac said in a statement: "He was the greatest gift that we could ever receive.

"He was a very active child and would not sit still and I always had to keep my eye on him.

"I could not have asked for a better son.

"He proved himself to be a good dad, which may have been because of his brotherly duties.

"He was a fantastic father."

Mrs McIsaac went on to describe how proud he was of his children and how he would take them to Scotland - the place of his birth - on a regular basis.

Shannon Woodburn explained in her statement that he had been emotional following the birth of their child and was taking drugs and alcohol due to the child being taken into care.

Ms Woodburn explained that he had history of heroin addiction but was clean at the time. However, speaking about the evening prior to his death, she said "I believe he was taking heroin and cocaine”.

Mr Storey, who was not drinking that night due to his sobriety explained that copious amounts of alcohol were being drunk - which he said was "not out of the ordinary".

A toxicology report confirmed that a number of drugs including cocaine and heroin had been found in Mr McIsaac's system as well as alcohol.

When taken to hospital the doctors described him as being in a comatose state which led to multi-organ failure alongside aspiration pneumonia.

"Evidence leads to only one conclusion, that this was a drug and alcohol related death," assistant coroner Robert Cohen said concluding.