THE death of a Winchester man who died of morphine toxicity has been ruled as misadventure.

Stuart James Steele, 60, of Winnall Manor Road, Winnall, was discovered dead in the house he shared with his brother Anthony on June 2, 2022, an inquest heard.

Mr Steele was discovered on the floor of the flat near to an inhaler which he used to treat his asthma. Mr Steele also suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which causes restricted air flow and breathing problems.

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Foil was discovered in the apartment by police officers, indicating that he had been taking heroin.

A post-mortem by consultant pathologist Dr Adnan Al-Badri found that Mr Steele had traces of morphine and sertraline in his blood. The cause of death was given as acute respiratory failure, caused by drug usage.

In a written statement read by the coroner, Anthony Steele said that his brother had got involved in drug usage at the age of 20, starting with sniffing glue and smoking cannabis before moving onto harder drugs including heroin and speed at the age of 30.

He said: “I told him the heroin would kill him. When I discovered him in our flat dead, I was shocked, and I still am.”

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In his statement, Mr Steele said that his brother had become a recluse in the last six months of his life, with people coming by to give him drugs. He said that he had last seen his brother Stuart alive a few days before going away on a trip and this his brother “had been in good spirits”.

Assistant coroner Sally Olsen ruled the death a misadventure, saying that she had heard no evidence to suggest that Mr Steele had taken his own lie.

Concluding the inquest, she gave her condolences to his family and friends.