A drunken man was found slumped in a police cell after an officer spotted a smear of blood on a wall, an inquest was told.
PC Stephen Little was checking on Anthony Wildman inside his cell at Lawcroft House police station in Bradford when he raised the alarm.
Bradford Coroner's Court heard how PC Little and a custody sergeant found him on the floor, snoring heavily with his trousers around his ankles.
They tried to rouse him and called his name but they failed to get a reply. As they moved him, a large pool of blood was found behind his head.
Mr Wildman was taken unconscious to Bradford Royal Infirmary and then transferred to Leeds General Infirmary where he underwent surgery to remove a blood clot, but he died from a head injury the next day.
Mr Wildman, 56, of Highgate, Heaton, was found to have a blood alcohol level which was nearly six times the legal drive-drive limit.
PC Little told the inquest there had been a "noticeable" smear of blood on the cell wall.
He described how they tried to straighten him up because of the way he was slumped. But as they did, they found the pool of blood.
Custody Sergeant Stephen Reed said he believed that Mr Wildman had fallen over in the cell.
Earlier that evening, passers-by saw Mr Wildman lying beside Bingley Road, in Bradford, after he had spent the day drinking at two pubs and a working men's club with his friend David Crawshaw.
When the police were called, he was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and incapable and taken to the police station because of his condition.
Mr Wildman - who was unable to stand or walk - was then placed on a bench in a cell and put under observation every half an hour.
The inquest continues.
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