An inquest into the death of an Onchan man concluded last week.

Lee Peel’s body was found in the water on South Beach in Ramsey at about 10.30am on December 5 last year.

The labourer had celebrated his 50th birthday just the day before, on December 4.

The inquest into his death was originally opened in December, but was adjourned until last Thursday, August 26, when it lasted all day.

Mr Peel’s family attended the hearing at Douglas Courthouse, which was presided over by Coroner Jayne Hughes.

The inquest was told his death was the result of drowning, and that he had heroin, diazepam and paracetamol in his system when he was found.

Statements read out from Mr Peel’s family members revealed he had struggled historically with drug addiction, dating back to his time in Chorlton, Manchester, where the family relocated for a time when he was younger.

The inquest was told he began to sniff glue and other aerosols at around 12 or 13 years of age, before moving on to harder drugs.

Most recently he had been dependent on Xanax, which was described as making him ’like a zombie’.

Mr Peel left school with no qualifications, but learned skills from his father and brother-in-law, who is also a labourer.

The family raised concerns for his welfare to the police the day after his birthday, when they were not receiving responses from him and discovered all of his house lights had been left on overnight - something they described as highly uncharacteristic.

They soon were told that a body had been discovered on Ramsey beach, which was then identified as Mr Peel.

One of the main questions the family wanted answered was why Mr Peel was in Ramsey that evening, which they deemed uncharacteristic.

Coroner Jayne Hughes emphasised at the beginning of the session that the inquest was purely there to establish facts, not assign blame.

She ultimately delivered an open verdict.

The court found that Mr Peel’s death was as a result of drowning after he consumed a combination of controlled drugs and entered the sea at an unknown point.

The court could not determine why, how or where Mr Peel went into the sea.

Lee Peel’s body was found in the water on South Beach in Ramsey at about 10.30am on December 5 last year.