Newbury shopkeeper denies disguising alcoholic drinks, inquest hears

Linda Davies was found dead by her father, Patrick Ellard, known as Jim, who she lived with in Dene Way, Newbury, in the early hours of January 2.
At Mrs Davies’ inquest at Newbury Town Hall on Wednesday, the court heard that the 44-year-old had been an alcoholic.
Mr Ellard told the inquest that a year before his daughter’s death he went into a number of shops in Newbury to ask them not to serve her alcohol.
However, Mr Ellard said that Sarah’s News, Rowan Drive, continued to sell his daughter alcohol and disguised it in water bottles so that the family would not find out.
Mrs Davies’ nephew, James Ellard also told the inquest that on a number of occasions his auntie had asked him to go into Sarah’s News where vodka and water would be mixed for her, but Mr Ellard junior refused.
He said: “I don’t know if she was mixing them or if anyone else was mixing them.
“We tried to help her, bless her, but she didn’t want help,” he added.
The owner of Sarah’s News, Paresh Patel admitted that on “one or two” occasions he had mixed vodka and water into water bottles for Mrs Davies, but only after she has purchased the drinks and only because she claimed she was unable to open the screw tops.
Mr Patel also said that he had not sold Mrs Davies alcohol since her father asked him not to, about a year before her death.
“She wasn’t happy but I had to put my foot down,” Mr Patel said.
He also said that Mrs Davies told him that she bought drinks from other shops in Newbury and hinted that they mixed vodka and water in water bottles for her.
On January 17, Thames Valley Police and Trading Standards visited Mr Patel’s shop but found no evidence of alcohol and soft drinks being mixed and sold, the inquest heard.
Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford said that he could not be sure where Mrs Davies had purchased her alcohol.
“The family has told me that she went to the nearest facility, Mr Patel’s shop.
The family believe that their request was not adhered to and Linda continued to buy alcohol from the shop.
“Mr Patel has told me that he is a responsible shopkeeper and has a licence he does not want to forfeit.
“The family accept that there was access to other shops.
“Whether other people were mixing it for her is less clear,” Mr Bedford added.
A post mortem examination revealed that the blood-alcohol level in Mrs Davies’ body was 467 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, 5.8 times more than the drink-drive limit.
Mr Bedford recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
He added: “It’s not an accident that Linda drank alcohol because she did it deliberately, but she did not intend for it to end her life.”