A 38-year-old man found dead in a hotel room had been battling heroin addiction for at least 15 years, an inquest heard.
Stuart Swales visited Blackpool with friends in March and booked into the Royal Windsor Hotel for two nights. Stuart had been having a 'good time' but was found slumped over a bath tub in the en-suite, in the early hours of March 6, a hearing at Blackpool Town Hall heard.
Despite the best efforts of hotel staff, who carried out CPR, he was pronounced dead by paramedics a short time later. The inquest heard that prior to finding him, staff had repeatedly knocked on his door and the duty manager eventually had to use a master key to gain entry.
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Once inside, the duty manager heard a tap running and headed to the the bathroom. Stuart, of Burnley, was 'clearly deceased', LancsLive reports. Alongside Stuart's body in the bathroom they drugs paraphernalia packets containing a brown powder later determined to be heroin.
Assistant Coroner Louise Rae heard that staff had been asked to contact all hotel guests to advise them they would be moving to a different hotel as the Royal Windsor was 'quiet'.
During the hearing, Stuart's mum described how she had pleaded with Stuart to get help for his drug addiction after discovering that he took heroin in 2007. "We got in touch with the GP to get him help, including methadone and counselling, and after that he seemed to get on with things," she said.
The inquest heard that despite Stuart's issues with drugs and alcohol he managed to hold down a job as a stock controller administrator and 'worked hard'. However, not long before his trip to Blackpool, Stuart had received an eviction notice relating to his home in Bowland Avenue.
The coroner said: "Friends said he had been in a self-destructive frame of mind however he worked hard and held down a job. He was a very troubled young man but he knew his mum would always help him. He was secretive. [His mum] tried to get him help but he didn't want it."
Returning a conclusion of a drug-related death the coroner said: "Stuart was known to have struggled with heroin use since 2007. Stuart's mum supported him in getting help and he had done that for a time.
"She had suspected he was using drugs again and urged him to get support. He referred himself to Inspire on March 1 but unfortunately hadn't engaged with them.
"We don't know why Stuart was in Blackpool. He had been with friends on March 4 and had a good time. He was facing eviction from his home and had debt problems. The heroin use has sadly and tragically taken his life."
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