A 33-stone drug dealer who died during a police raid was the largest man a pathologist had ever carried out an autopsy on, a fatal accident inquiry has been told.

Stuart Sandeman died after suffering a heart attack when he swallowed a golf ball-sized bag of cocaine while brawling with several officers who stormed his flat.

In written submissions to Perth Sheriff Court yesterday (MON), Sandeman's death was described as "inevitable" due to his "ginormous" weight and the drugs he ingested.

Solicitor Peter Watson, representing several police officers involved in the raid, said: "The medical evidence demonstrated that Mr Sandeman weighed 33 stone, was grossly and morbidly obese, with a BMI of 62, and had an enlarged heart.

"Apart from any other factor his health was such that he could have died at any moment. When Mr Sandeman became unwell nothing could have saved him.

"There were no reasonable precautions which could have been taken whereby the death might have been avoided. Mr Sandeman had placed himself at risk of death.

"He adopted a course of action which placed his life at risk. He and no-one else is responsible for the circumstances giving rise to his death.

"The police officers acted at all times in good faith. The raid on Mr Sandeman's property and the attempt to arrest him were in the public interest in stopping a drug dealer supplying drugs.

He added that the post-mortem examination findings and the medical evidence support the conclusion that the force used by the officers in dealing with Sandeman was "proportionate and reasonable."

Fiscal depute Alasdair MacDonald, for the Crown, said: "The deceased was undoubtedly at the extreme end of obesity.

"Dr [David] Sadler's evidence was that he was the largest man that the doctor had ever encountered in approximately 5,000 autopsies and the heart was grossly enlarged 'off the scale of the charts'.

"The level of cocaine ingested at the time of the police raid, in addition to that previously consumed, would be sufficient alone to account for death."

He said Sandeman made the deliberate decision to ingest a "significant quantity" of cocaine, despite strenuous efforts to prevent him, and this meant his death was inevitable.

Mr MacDonald added: "Even if this episode had taken place in a hospital environment his death would also have been inevitable."

Advocate Catherine Smith, representing the family of the deceased, blamed the police for failing to prepare for Sandeman's size when they raided the property on 6 May 2011.

She said: "No planning for the size of Stuart Sandeman was undertaken. Stuart Sandeman was a man of extraordinary size.

"It is accepted by the family that Stuart Sandeman was a drug dealer. It is accepted the amount of drugs ingested was fatal and nothing could be done from the point of ingestion.

"However, it is submitted that some aspects of the handling of the dynamic situation around the attempted detention demonstrate failures that, whilst they made little difference in this case, could make a difference in other cases."

Solicitor James Reid, for the Chief Constable, criticised the family for making issue with police delays getting into the flat, when they were due to a reinforced door Sandeman had fitted.

"The police officers were faced with a 33-stone individual who constantly and consistently not only refused to co-operate, but resisted. The actions taken by the police officers were proportionate and reasonable."

Sheriff Fiona Tait said she would take time to review the evidence and expected to issue her findings in writing by September.

"This is obesity not simply of a clinical nature," Dr Grieve said. "It is associated with significant health hazards for a man of his age."

Sandeman, known as Big Sandy, had been convicted of drug dealing at T in the Park several years beforehand and had also been ordered to hand over thousands of pounds under Proceeds of Crime.