Paul Inman, 30, died after huge quantities of cola caused his lungs to swell to four times their normal weight. An inquest heard that he had Asperger's syndrome and used to walk to the shops for more than once a day to buy his fizzy drinks.

He drank himself to death and died in his sleep at a care home in Haworth, West Yorkshire. Pathologist Dr. Deirdre McKenna said excessive drinking caused his death. The habit began when he was 10 year old.

He suffered from a massive pulmonary oedema. The disease means the large amount of fluid in lungs, which restricts breathing.

Mr. Inman's non-medical condition of polydipsia, which is Greek for "much thirst", attributed to his death. His mum Alison told the coroner yesterday that she is not a pathologist but she made the decision two hours after he died. She added, "I've said the cause of it was he drank excessively. He had done since he was 10. We used to say he had a self-destruct button".

The inquest also heard that care staff has to keep his cigarettes to not let him smoke 20 in one hour. Mr. Inman was diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 17. However, his case was reviewed in 2008 and doctors found that he suffered from Asperger's, a form of autism.