A POLISH man who died three days after he was found beaten up and unconscious on Dodworth Road was not murdered, Sheffield coroner's court was told.

Krzysztof Stalmach, 36, of Hopwood Street, was discovered in the middle of the road with multiple injuries in 2006.

His death on November 15 sparked a murder investigation but it was abandoned. Mr Stalmach had fallen over and a post mortem revealed he had fractured his skull.

He died in Barnsley hospital three days later and the murder investigation was launched. DSI Fewkes said officers pursued over 800 lines of enquiry, took 136 witness statements, arrested seven suspects, took 320 exhibits, used up to 40 detectives and sent officers to Poland twice and once to South Korea.

He said: "I'm satisfied and the CPS is that this wasn't a homicide."

Coroner Chris Dorries recorded a verdict of accidental death, adding: "Mr Stalmach's death wasn't a direct result of the injuries that were caused in the house. He has gone out into the road and fallen to the ground. I'm satisfied his fall was accidental and likely to be attributable in part to his alcohol consumption."

Mr Stalmach, a father-of-three, had been living in Barnsley for 18 months and worked for a food packaging company. The coroner offered his sympathy to Mr Stalmach's family, particularly his mother who had to cope with her son's death in a foreign country.