By Staff Reporter

Last updated 11:42, Friday, 18 April 2008

A WORKINGTON father died in a shed after taking a lethal concoction of drugs.

An inquest heard that Gary Petre, 24, of Firth View Walk, died on December 6 last year in a garden shed on Bowness Court.

It emerged during the hearing that he had spent the evening with a friend taking a number of drugs including cocaine and cannabis.

His mother Alice Messenger said that he had been receiving help to stop taking drugs and was visiting drugs charity Rising Sun Trust to receive counselling. But towards the end of last year he started missing his sessions with his nurse.

Friend Ashley Taylor, of Garnet Crescent, told the inquest at West Allerdale Magistrates’ court in Workington: “He had been a drug user for the last five years. On Wednesday, December 5, he came to my house until 7.30pm. We shared a gram of coke and smoked pot.”

He said they went to a friend’s house and had another line of coke each. During the course of the night he took a number of tablets Mr Taylor described as “pinks” and “blues.”

Mr Petre’s girlfriend, Joanne Folden, said: “When we met he was a happy person with a bubbly personality. He was down because his ex wouldn’t let him see his son. He came to some arrangement with his ex about seeing him.

“He was seeing a drug counsellor. He had to attend once a day.”

She said during the day before he died he appeared to be under the influence of drugs.

Mr Petre’s body was found the following morning by Thomas Kenneth May of Bowness Court in his garden shed.

Mr May said in a statement the day after the body was found that the shed had been locked and secured beforehand. After finding the body he phoned the police.

West and North Cumbria coroner John Taylor said: “Ashley gave evidence that he had been with Gary that evening. They had smoked pot and taken coke.

“He had taken other drugs. It was about 4am when Gary left Ashley to return to Joanne’s home. He never arrived. His body was found the next day by Thomas Kenneth May. He had consumed a large amount of different drugs in the time before his death. He must have decided not to go back to Joanne’s house in that state.

“He must have gained access to the shed to gain shelter and sleep off the drugs. Due to the amount of drugs he had consumed it led to complications and depressed his system.”

A consultant pathologist at the West Cumberland Hospital said the cause of death was poisoning caused by diazepam, an anti-depression drug amitriptyline, and a painkiller dihydrocodeine.

The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.

He said: “He took too many drugs and this led to his death.”