A MAN from Rhos-on-Sea died after accidentally dropping a weightlifting bar onto his neck, an inquest heard. 

Carl Hughes was found dead at his home on Hanover Court, Rhos Road on Saturday, September 9, 2023.

At County Hall in Ruthin on Tuesday (February 13), an inquest was held into the 61-year-old's death. 

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The coroner's court heard that Mr Hughes’ neighbours discovered him after he had not been seen for several days.

Concerns were raised after a pile of newspapers had started to develop outside his door, with Mr Hughes known to have collected them on a daily basis. 

Concerned neighbours entered Mr Hughes' property - knowing that he typically left his door unlocked during the day. 

The inquest heard that Mr Hughes, a retired catering assistant, was found in his bedroom lying on a workout bench, with a bar weighing approximately 60kg on his neck. One side of the barbell was in the air, and the other compressed against Mr Hughes's neck. He was found to be unresponsive and cold to the touch. 

The emergency services attended, and Mr Hughes was sadly pronounced dead at 3.09pm. 

Dr Zain Mehdi, who undertook a post-mortem examination, gave a cause of death of asphyxia, secondary to compression of the neck by a bar.

Blood samples taken for the purpose of toxicology showed that Mr Hughes had 223micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of blood - the legal driving limit being 80. 

However, Kate Robertson, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, said Mr Hughes was known to drink heavily, and would likely have built up alcohol tolerance. She said that the level of alcohol in his system "has to be treated with caution" when assessing the cause of the incident. 

She recorded a conclusion of accidental death, describing the matter as a "terribly tragic set of circumstances".