A PORTHMADOG chef who died in a New Year’s Day crash was almost twice over the drink-drive limit and had taken illegal drugs, an inquest heard.

Enekois Gomez-Rodriguez was found lying in the road near an area known as Glandwyfach, near Garndolbenmaen, after crashing his Vauxhall Meriva.

Georgina Dawn Evans told an inquest in Caernarfon that she had heard a loud bang shortly after 3.30am and went out to discover the 37-year-old in the middle of the road on the A487.

She said: “When I heard the loud bang, I ran out the house to see what had happened and I saw the body of a man lying in the middle of the road.

“I immediately started to panic as I thought he was dead. I was worried cars were going to come down and run over him so when I spotted a car coming towards me I waved my arms to get it to stop.”

The driver who was stopped by Mrs Evans was off-duty police officer, Dylan Pierce Jones, who was on his way to Penrhyndeudraeth to celebrate the New Year with his family and friends.

He said: “I called the emergency services and I noticed the car had gone into the ditch.

“As I walked over to check the man lying in the road, I thought he was dead but then he suddenly started to groan and began rolling around in the road.”

Mrs Evans told the inquest how she found the situation she was in “very scary”.

She said: “It was a very scary situation to be in, especially as the car was on fire and then it blew up.”

Mr Gomez-Rodriguez was taken by ambulance to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor and was later transferred to the trauma unit at the University of North Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke, where he died 12 days later from his injuries.

A post-mortem was carried out by Dr Mark Lord, who found Mr Gomez-Rodriguez had suffered a serious head injury consistent with being in a traffic collision.

Tests showed there was an alcohol level of 139 microgrammes in his blood, which is almost twice the legal limit of 80.

Tests also showed that Mr Gomez-Rodriguez, who was originally from Spain, had taken cocaine, cannabis and ketamine prior to the crash.

Accident investigator Gordon Saynor said it was likely Mr Gomez-Rodriguez was not wearing a selt-belt when he was ejected from his car, as a report from the pathologist said there were no injuries on the body that would have been caused by a seat belt.

He said: “From our investigation, we find the driver failed to negotiate the bend and collided with a stone wall before the car overturned.”

Coroner Nicola Jones said the combination of alcohol and illegal drugs had clearly affected Mr Gomez-Rodriguez’s ability to perceive the risks and how to react on the road.

The only reason he lost control was due to his own actions, she said.

“If he had worn a seat belt it may have retained him inside the vehicle and he would not have suffered the catastrophic head injuries. His death was caused by his own actions.”

The coroner Mrs Jones concluded that Mr Gomez-Rodriguez died as a result of an accident.