Coroner rules on death of man, 48, found unresponsive at his Blackpool home

A man found unresponsive at his home in Blackpool had a history of drug use and mental health, an inquest heard.

Lee Gibson, 48, struggled to sleep at night and had taken Valium to try and get some rest last time he was seen by his family around breakfast time on March 2 this year.

When they returned later in the day, he was found unresponsive.

A post-mortem found evidence of various substances in his system, with pathologist Dr Darek Golka particular pointing out the presence of high levels of methadone and cocaine.

Dr Golka told the inquest at Blackpool Town Hall that perhaps with that level o one of the substances in his system, Mr Gibson might have survived but the combination made them more dangerous and he confirmed the cause of death as multi-drug toxicity.

Mr Gibson, who had been diagnosed with a personality disorder, had been prescribed methadone while under the care of Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust mental health services.

At a consultation in January, he said he had been clear of drugs for several months but struggled to take care of himself in his home and was lonely.

He had indicated that he had had thoughts at some stage of self harm but had never acted on them.

The inquest heard that Mr McAteer had an outpatient’s appointment for several days after his death but his family said the appointment letter had never arrived,

Blackpool and Fylde assistant coroner Andrew Cousins said he felt the only point arising from that situation was that it was important that such letters should also be accompanied and text and e-mail reminders.

Mr Cousins returned a conclusion of a drug-related death.