A YOUNG dad died in a freak accident when he tripped on a bag of rubbish in his flat.

Nathan Pierre fell and banged his head on the fridge at his flat in Sillwood Street, Brighton, in June.

The 24-year-old was knocked unconscious and fell in an awkward position which left him unable to breathe.

It happened so quickly, he would not have known he was in trouble, coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley told his inquest today.

The father-of-one was described as a “strapping lad” who was preparing to see his young daughter the next day.

His daughter’s mum Dzaneta Smoliakova had grown concerned that he was not answering his phone, and went to his flat where there was no answer.

She looked through the letterbox and saw his feet, and could tell he was lying on the floor in the kitchen.

She called an ambulance, while Mr Pierre’s mother, Angela, called the housing company to gain entry to the locked flat.

Paramedics confirmed he was dead.

An initial post-mortem examination was unable to determine the cause of death.

Ms Pierre said: “He was quite a strapping lad, and would get quite hot.

“Even if it was snowing he would often strip down inside. He was fully clothed. It indicates he had not been in for a very long time.”

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Pathologist Dr Max Whibley told the inquest at Woodvale Crematorium there were no signs of alcohol or drug use.

He said: “Nathan fell in a peculiar position inside the flat, with his head close against the fridge.

“Unfortunately he was unconscious and unable to move air in and out of his lungs, and as he was unconscious he was not able to change position.

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“That predicament can lead to respiratory arrest, and that is unfortunately what happened to Nathan.

“It was the perfect storm of his position and status being unconscious.

“He would have known absolutely nothing.”

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley said ordinarily a person who bumps their head and falls unconscious is able to wake up and move, and only suffers a bad headache.

She concluded he had died of postural asphyxiation as a result of a fall, and that it was an accidental death.

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“He was very much loved, and has a large and loving family,” she said.

Outside court, Mr Pierre’s father Kieron Ferguson said he was a “much loved young man”.

It would have been the student’s 25th birthday on Monday.