A MAN with a history of mental health issues was found deceased in his Carlisle flat after taking a cocktail of drugs.

Owen Parrington, 31, died on July 27 last year, at Hartington Place, Carlisle.

An inquest in Cockermouth heard the former media company worker was found by a neighbour in his supported living accommodation.

Coroner Margaret Taylor concluded his death was "drug-related".

The inquest heard that Mr Parrington was born in Yorkshire. He struggled at school and ended up being home-schooled, said his mother, Louise Taylor.

"He was at home more than school. I feel he had some sort of learning difficulty, he did not like to give eye contact or be cuddled," she said.

Mrs Taylor said their GP had put him on a waiting list to be assessed for Asperger's but it never happened.

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After finishing education, he went to Amsterdam and lived there for about four years.

He returned home but was involved with drugs which caused problems. He consequently left the family home six years ago.

While his mother and step father had not seen him for six years before his death, they had regular updates.

Mrs Taylor knew her son had moved to Carlisle in 2019 and was getting support with his mental health.

"Not a day went by when I did not think about Owen," said Mrs Taylor.

Mr Parrington was involved with Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust's mental health services.

A mental health practitioner told the inquest he had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder.

He struggled with relationships, anxiety and self worth. He self harmed and took multiple overdoses, the inquest heard.

His GP in Carlisle had referred him for an autism assessment and he was on the waiting list, the inquest heard.

"There are problems throughout the country about assessments for autism," said Ms Taylor.

"There are long waits. This is a shame."

A post mortem revealed a combination of medication and drugs in Mr Parrington's system and gave the medical cause of death as "drug intoxication".

"This was not a single drug but the combined sedative effect may have proved fatal," said Ms Taylor.

"There was the use of sedative drugs as well as cannabis and cocaine so we are talking about quite a cocktail."

In her summing up, Ms Taylor said: "Owen clearly struggled with school and discipline.

"After leaving school he went to Amsterdam for about four years. This is where you believe he started to dabble with drugs."

She spoke of his involvement with mental health services and his emotional unstable personality disorder combined with the "very harmful use of psycho active substances".

"He had struggled with his mental health and had a known history of polysubstance misuse," said Ms Taylor.

She said to his family: "I'm very sorry you lost Owen.

"It's tragic he died in the way he did. He obviously had mental health issues but was dabbling with dangerous drugs."

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