EX-JESUS FELLOWSHIP MAN TOOK FATAL COCKTAIL OF DRUGS

Source : 12/12/2001 Northampton Chronicle and Echo

A Former Jesus Fellowship follower was found dead in a Northampton car park following a fatal cocktail of heroin, alcohol and prescription drugs, an inquest has heard.

The man, aged 28, of no fixed abode, was found in the rear of The Ridings car park by workmen on March 25.

The inquest was told he had met up with a friend, from Towcester, and gone on a drinking binge.

The friend said they had become friends after meeting via the Nether Heyford-based religious sect in 1992, which the man left three years later.

He said they had spent the day drinking Smirnoff Ice, Southern Comfort and brandy along with another friend at the Racecourse.

The friend said in a statement: ''he' had taken some medication that day and somehow he was more intoxicated than either of us.'

The inquest heard that later in the day the man had met up with another man, currently serving a prison sentence, and they bought £15 worth of heroin after begging for money in the Market Square.

He told the hearing they injected the heroin in the car park and he had left 'him' at the scene.

A post-mortem examination revealed the victim had 154 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, which is nearly twice the legal drink-drive limit.

There were also traces of eight different drugs in his body, including morphine, diazepam, temazepam and codeine.

Verdict: accidental death.