A young homeless man hung himself outside a friend’s flat as a “gesture of defiance” after a drinking binge, an inquest heard on Tuesday.

Westminster Coroner’s Court heard how Kamio Nizio, 27, had a history of self-harm and alcohol abuse after arriving in the country from Poland six years ago.

Residents in Nimrod Road, Tooting, found Mr Nizio hanging by his belt from the railings outside the flat of a friend, Anthony Khan, on Thursday, February 11, at 6.40pm.

A postmortem examination later found a blood alcohol level of four times over the legal driving limit.

Concluding the inquest, the coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, said he would not record a verdict of suicide because Mr Nizio was very drunk when he died.

He said: “The question that arises is, is this a case of suicide or is this a gesture of defiance by a man under the influence of alcohol?

"He has a past history of gestures such as cutting himself and making a nuisance of himself. And of all the places he chose to hang himself, he did not go to a quiet place, he did not jump off a high building.

“I have to say that in this case I don’t think he was capable of forming the intention.

"I think that he was so drunk, he didn’t know what he was doing at all.”

He said Mr Nizio died from hanging and recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.