Raymond Flippence, 63, fell after getting out of bed in the night at his home in St Peter's Avenue, Kettering, on November 12 last year.

An inquest into Mr Flippence's death was held in Kettering yesterday.
His wife Pauline heard him fall and called an ambulance.

She said her husband cried out in pain as the ambulance went over speed bumps on the way to Kettering General Hospital.

He had been suffering from conditions including cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis. He suffered a fracture to his spine and to nine ribs in the fall and died in hospital the following day.

Dr Brian Gostelow, a consultant histopathologist who carried out the post mortem examination, said: "We have a picture of a severely ill man who had significant trauma.

"Perhaps in a fitter man these wouldn't have been fatal."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, deputy coroner Rodney Haig said: "He was less likely to survive the shock of a fall of this nature than someone who had been well."

He said the fall down the stairs, which led to shock, had caused his death.