Ex-professional rugby star Malcolm Alker went into a downward spiral after he retired from the game, inquest hears

Bolton Coroners’ Court heard the case of Wigan-born Malcolm Alker, who had a 16-year career as a member of Salford Red Devils RLFC, which he captained. He also won two caps for England on the international scene.

The hearing was attended by Mr Alker’s dad, also called Malcolm, along with an aunt and the ex-rugby player’s partner.

Coroner Michael Pemberton heard that Mr Alker was born in Billinge and had three brothers.

He showed promise as a rugby player and, after playing for Orrell St James’ and Wigan St Patrick’s as a youngster, was signed up by the Salford side.

Following a long career, he retired from the game and went into the building trade, working as a bricklayer and HGV driver.

However the inquest heard that shortly after retiring from professional rugby, Mr Alker began to suffer from depression and also had “police dealings.”

His coping mechanism was heavy drinking. This was aggravated by a long-standing brain injury, which was thought to be the result of blows to his head which he received during his rugby playing career, and led to Mr Alker being diagnosed with the onset of suspected dementia.

Shortly before his death, Mr Alker, of Rathen Avenue, Ince, moved into his mum’s house because of domestic problems. He was living in the house alone, although his family checked up on him regularly.

On the evening of January, a “concern for safety” was raised by Mr Alker’s partner after she found him in a “slightly” unresponsive state.

He informed her he had taken medication and he was taken by ambulance to Royal Bolton Hospital.

Because the A&E department was so busy, Mr Alker had to wait in the ambulance, where he suffered a cardiac arrest. Within a few minutes, he was taken into the resuscitation unit.

Although every effort was made to save him, he suffered a second cardiac arrest and was placed in the critical care unit. He was pronounced dead on the morning of January 14.

Following a post-mortem examination, the cause of death was given as multi-organ failure due to multiple drug toxicity. The levels of medication in Mr Alker’s system were found to be low, because they had been broken down by the body in the preceding hours.

The inquest heard that Mr Alker had a history of drug and alcohol problems, which he used as a way of coping with anxiety and low mood.

There had been previous attempts at self-harm and “impulsive” overdoses in the period between 2015 and 2021.

In his summing up, the coroner Mr Pemberton said Mr Alker’s life “went off the rails” following the end of his professional rugby career.

"There were times when he found things difficult and there had been a number of disruptive events in the preceding few years,” said Mr Pemberton.

He gave a conclusion of alcohol and drug-related death.

After Mr Alker made his debut with Salford Red Devils in 1997, the hooker was first named captain in 2000 at just 21 years old before becoming the club’s full-time skipper. He spent his full professional career with the club, amassing 292 appearances.