Teacher dies after drinking wine in her garden

Gillian Howe drunk a bottle and a half while sitting in the sun and was found slumped in her chair. Photo / Getty Images.

A primary school teacher who rarely drank alcohol died after drinking more than one bottle of red wine on a summer afternoon.

Gill Howe, 46, may have lost her life because her body had a very low tolerance of alcohol, an inquest in Hull heard.

The mother-of-two, described by her family and friends as "full of life, always laughing and happy," had been in her garden with a friend in June last year when she became unconscious.

Paramedics struggled to resuscitate her and she "slumped forward" in her chair, having drunk one and a half bottles of wine.

The popular teacher died whilst traveling from her home in Beverley to Hull Royal Infirmary.

The inquest heard that both Howe and her friend had fallen asleep after drinking but that when her friend woke up, she was unable to rouse Howe who was just under four times the drink-drive alcohol limit according to a toxicology report.

Dr Justin Cooke, a pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination, concluded that Howe had died due to respiratory failure as a result of alcohol intoxication.

Her family described her death as a "tragic accident" and said what happened "may not have been the case in someone used to drinking".

"She was a devoted mum and a fantastic teacher and was loved by all those who had the pleasure of knowing her," her husband, Ed Howe said.