Troubled dad, 30, died of deadly drugs cocktail in Blackpool alleyway

Liam Clegg, 30, was found unresponsive behind a hotel on Hornby Road at around 4pm on August 12, 2020. Police officers, an ambulance and two rapid response vehicles were called, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

At an inquest at Blackpool town hall on Wednesday, coroner Andrew Cousins said that Liam, of Tudor Court, Blackpool, had suffered a drugs-related death.

A post-mortem examination and toxicology test revealed several different drugs in his system that 'could potentially have posed a risk to life'.

In a tribute to the dad of two, Liam's friend Louise Farrell said: "Liam had a really rough child hood and suffered every day with his demons. He never got the help he needed or deserved. Liam also bought two beautiful children into the world and now are sadly left behind without their daddy. They're both young and although they don't fully understand whats going off, one day they will have a lot of pain to come through."

Liam was known to have struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, depression and self harm after losing both of his parents by the time he was 13-years-old.

By age 21 he had been called 'the Fylde coast's most prolific burglar' after racking up more than 140 burglary, theft and criminal damage charges over six years.

But a Blackpool police officer said he was 'a likeable lad', and that his life of crime was simply the only one he had ever known.

PC James Scantlebury said previously: "'He was pushed into crime by his parents. His father took him out burgling when he was 10-years-old. He taught him the ropes and sent him through small windows.

"From the age of 12 he was passed from pillar to post. From the age of 16 he was living in a bedsit. He's not stealing to fund a drug habit, he was stealing to fund his lifestyle. It's the only way he has ever known."

Liam, a former Lytham High School student, spent time in and out of prison and was hauled before the courts several times, including once in 2018 when he was caught stealing a Poppy Appeal collection box from a hotel.

A fund-raiser for his funeral, set up by his friends after his death, raised £339.

Louise said: "One thing that haunted Liam was that he never had anywhere to go visit his mother when he deeply missed her. We don’t want his boys growing up feeling the same way. Liam was a single parent and, having no family, he solely relied on the help from others. As his friends we are going to do our very best for his children."