A New Malden man suffered a tragic accidental death after drinking too much alcohol at a friend’s wedding in Chinatown, an inquest ruled on July 22.

Chinese-born Tiezhau Jin, 43, suffered fatal head injuries after falling and hitting his head on the pavement outside a packed central London restaurant, where minutes earlier he had been among 100 guests celebrating their friends’ marriage on May 10.

Mr Jin, who had consumed enough alcohol during the evening meal to leave him more than three times over the legal alcohol limit to drive, was helped up by onlookers after he staggered out of the restaurant and stumbled to the ground just after 7.30pm.

But the 43-year-old shrugged them off and collapsed to the ground again seconds later, sustaining such serious head injuries they would cause him to die in the care of specialist brain surgeons a week later.

Coroner Paul Knapman, who presided over the inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court, said Mr Jin’s ethnic background could have been a contributing factor to the accident.

He said: "50 per cent of people of Chinese origin have alcohol dehydrogenase deficiency, and have a reduced capacity for metabolising alcohol.

"This can cause much more severe effects. If he was one of those 50 per cent, this could just make a bad situation worse."

Mr Jin was initially rushed to nearby St Thomas’ Hospital, but was moved to University College London’s National Neurology Hospital for surgery after being diagnosed with bleeding on the brain.

The court heard little was known about Mr Jin, even by the seven people he and his wife shared a house with in Dukes Avenue, New Malden.

No family members were present at the inquest, with his wife having already returned to China following her husband’s death.

Summing up, Dr Knapman said: "The cause of death was multiple head injuries, and I’m very satisfied that this should be categorised as an accidental death."