Ex-Bandmate of Janick "Killed in Street Fall"
Mr Crallan later joined the band Tank but did not enjoy the same success as Mr Gers and ended up working as a Dial-A-Ride driver and a hospital porter to pay the bills. But, according to friends, he “never totally gave up the dreamâ€.One of his albums was re-released in later years, and he could often be found jumping up and down to his favourite karaoke tracks at Central Station bar in King’s Cross.
A St Pancras inquest on Tuesday heard how detectives initially suspected foul play after Mr Crallan was found bleeding in the road.
But after cordoning off a large part of York Way for some hours, examination of CCTV footage which had captured his fit and subsequent fall led officers to call off any criminal investigation.
Detective Sergeant Alastair Watson said Mr Crallan was seen to shake and then fall backwards. Because of the fit, he was unable to break his fall and hit the back and right side of his head on concrete.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid ruled Mr Crallan died of natural causes after deciding that his alcoholism was not responsible for the death. Mr Crallan’s liver was healthy enough to be used for an organ donation and there was no alcohol in his body at the time of his death.
He said: “The cause of the seizure may have been alcohol but equally there is evidence he’d developed a frontal lobe lesion.â€
Mr Crallan’s brave struggle to beat alcohol addiction was praised at his funeral, led by humanist Ros Curtis at Golders Green Crematorium in August.
His partner Mike Jackson said after the inquest: “He had been warned several times that sudden withdrawal from alcohol without alternative therapy is dangerous and he had had several seizures as a result of doing this.
“We believe he died as a result of this... [However] we take comfort in the fact that Graeme died on a day that he was feeling strong, managing to fight this illness and live for another day. It was, very sadly, an accident.â€
He added: “He was a well-loved and respected man. He’ll be very sorely missed.â€