LONDON — Amy Winehouse died from accidental alcohol poisoning when she resumed drinking after a period of abstinence, a second coroner’s inquest confirmed Tuesday.
Coroner Shirley Radcliffe ruled that the 27-year-old soul singer “died as a result of alcohol toxicity” and recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. She said there were no suspicious circumstances.
She said that Winehouse “voluntarily consumed alcohol — a deliberate act that took an unexpected turn and led to her death.”
The Grammy-winning singer, who fought a very public battle with drug and alcohol abuse for years, was found dead at her London home July 23, 2011, with empty vodka bottles scattered around her.
Radcliffe said a postmortem had found that Winehouse had a blood alcohol level five times the legal driving limit, and above a level that can prove fatal.
She said that that much alcohol could affect the central nervous system so much that a patient could “fall asleep and not wake up.”
Pathologist Michael Sheaff told the inquest that Winehouse had likely suffered a respiratory arrest after consuming so much alcohol. The level in her blood was 416 milligrams per 100 milliliters, a blood alcohol level of 0.4 percent. The British legal driving limit is 0.08 percent.