MP dies after drinking deadly number of shots

A 73-year-old Labour MP died after drinking a fatal amount of Polish spirits during a business trip, an inquest has ruled.

Jim Dobbin, a long-standing Labour MP in Greater Manchester, died after drinking a shots of Polish spirits

Jim Dobbin, who was MP for Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester, was found to be five times over the UK drink drive limit after drinking a shot with each course during an official dinner in Poland, reports the BBC.

He then went to bed feeling unwell when colleagues told him to “sleep it off”. His wife Patricia was unable to wake him the following morning and he died less than an hour after being admitted to hospital on 7 September 2014.

“He told some friends he began to feel dizzy so they brought him upstairs to the room at around 10.30pm,” Patricia Dobbin said.

“His colleagues told him he just needed some sleep so I took off his tie and his shoes and was soon asleep.”

Food was also found in Dobbin’s lungs, which hindered his breathing.

The backbencher, who was first elected MP for his constituency in 1997 and formally worked as a microbiologist, was on a trip organised by the Council of Europe to the Polish town of Slupsk.

Rochdale Coroner’s Court heard that only drank socially, and never at home.

Drinking a shot of vodka with each course is a tradition during important meals in Poland.

The inquest returned a death by misadventure verdict.

In November last year, Australian teenager Nicole Bicknell died after consuming shots of 95% abv rectified Polish spirit Polmos Spirytus Rektyfikowany.