A MAN who was found in his garden after drinking with friends died after suffocating, a court has heard.

An inquest heard on Friday how Michael Eley was found kneeling in the garden of his home address in Braintree on Friday, December 15, having been at the pub with his friends the same day.

Area coroner for Essex, Michelle Brown, told the court how Mr Eley, who was 37, was “blue and unresponsive”.

She said: “His death was confirmed at 5.14pm by paramedics.

“On January 14, a post-mortem was carried out and a toxicology gave a cause of death as positional asphyxia and profound ethanol intoxication.”