Mr Dean was walking up Mont Les Vaux in St. Brelade, on the bend near the old Shell Garden, when he was struck by a taxi which was driving down the hill.
A post-mortem found the cause of death to be traumatic brain and head injuries. It also concluded that it was likely to have been instantaneous.
Pictured: The accident happened on Mont Les Vaux in St. Brelade.
It also found that Mr Dean’s blood-alcohol level was nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit, equivalent to 22 measures of spirit.
Mr Dean died at around 20:15 on Sunday 29 November 2020.
An inquest held this morning (Tuesday 1 February) heard that Mr Dean had earlier been drinking in Miller’s Bar at the Les Quennevais Precinct, where he had drunk eight to nine pints of beer and left around 18:30.
His whereabouts after that remain unclear. However, immediately before the accident, three drivers reported that they had to swerve to avoid a man wearing dark clothes who had stumbled into the road while they were travelling down the St. Aubin’s Hill.
These drivers or their passengers gave statements to the police after a witness appeal.
Pictured: Mr Dean was remembered as a “lovely bloke” by friends.
The taxi driver, who was carrying a passenger in his front-seat, was also driving down the hill towards St. Aubin.
Both individuals gave statements saying that Mr Dean appeared from nowhere and the driver could do nothing to avoid the collision.
The Mercedes car immediately stopped and the passenger phoned for an ambulance.
The subsequent police investigation found no fault with the car nor the driver’s actions. He was not speeding nor had he consumed any alcohol.
Giving his verdict, Relief Coroner Cyril Whelan said Mr Dean had been tragically killed when he accidentally stepped or stumbled into the path of a taxi while walking up Mont Les Vaux while intoxicated with alcohol.
He assigned no blame whatsoever to the taxi driver.
Looking at lessons to be learned, Advocate Whelan said: “When motorists see somebody unable to take full care of themselves, it is a good idea to contact the police. This is not to get that person into trouble, but for their own personal safety.”
Inspector David Turnbull, who led the investigation, told the inquest: “A phone call to us on this occasion may have prevented this incident taking place. We had Honorary colleagues just down the hill in St. Aubin who could have come up to check on him.
“This is not about prosecuting anybody – it would have purely been a safety issue.”
After his death in 2020, friends of the Preston-born Mr Dean paid warm tributes on social media, describing him as a “lovely bloke” and “a legend”.