Mother died after Christmas binge

A mother-of-three died of hypothermia after falling down in the snow following a Christmas drinking binge.

Linda Logan, 48, was found in a snow covered field in Chard, Somerset, on the morning of Boxing Day 2004.

It is thought she had lain there since falling during a snowball fight the previous evening. She was taken to hospital, but died the same day.

An inquest heard Mrs Logan had spent Christmas Day drinking heavily as she celebrated with friends and family.

The hearing, in Taunton, was told Mrs Logan had begun drinking with her daughter Lyenka in Chough's Hotel, Chard, at lunchtime on Christmas Day.

Snowball fight

As she moved from there to a pub, to her son's house and back to the hotel, she consumed several vodka cocktails, champagne and wine with Christmas dinner, shots of tequila and four bottles of Vodka Mudshake.

She was last seen by her son Kai, 23, and his friends at around 2300 GMT, as the group enjoyed a snowball fight on the way to a party.

We are with the exception of Ireland the one nation in Europe that are not capable of taking alcohol Michael Rose, coroner

Kai told the court the group were very merry as they took a shortcut across playing fields, and that his mother, who was walking slightly behind the group, had fallen over in the snow.

He said he could not remember seeing her get back up again, and that he and his friends had gone on to the party, thinking his mother was going on to another celebration nearby.

She never arrived, and was found lying face down in the field the next morning wearing just a short skirt and blouse.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had died of hypothermia.

Cocaine traces

Traces of cocaine were found in her body, and she had an alcohol reading of 143mgs of alcohol per 100ml of blood - almost twice the legal drink-drive limit.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, coroner Michael Rose said: "We are with the exception of Ireland the one nation in Europe that are not capable of taking alcohol.

"There is a tremendous learning curve that this country and particularly its young people need to go through.

"This sadly is not an isolated case... it would never have happened if the people involved had not taken so much alcohol. This is something the family will have to live with."

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Logan's son Luc, 27, said: "What the coroner said was unfair.

"Everyone enjoys a drink at Christmas as long as it is done sensibly there's not a problem.

"My mother will be greatly missed, we loved her very much. She was irreplaceable."