Horror of dying junkie

Jeremy Furber, aged 32, of Forge Bank, Bosbury, Ledbury, Herefordshire, died on Friday, November 19 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital after his brother Nicholas found him at the fast-food outlet in Bristol Road, Gloucester.

Nicholas, aged 33, also from Ledbury, was arrested after the death but was later released without charge.

Manager Julia Ann Dix told a Gloucester inquest she was working when at around 6.30pm, a regular customer told her that a man was lying in the toilets.

"I pushed open the door and could see the man lying on the floor between the cubicle and the urinals," Mrs Dix said. "He was slumped rather than laid out, with his legs outstretched.

"I could see that he wasn't breathing and I put him into the recovery position."

The customer told her that Jeremy's brother was in the store and she spoke to him, she said.

"Jeremy's brother told me that Jeremy had been drinking and taking drugs. I think that he said that it was heroin that he had been using."

PC Steven Beale said the police soon arrived and sealed off the store.

Nicholas told PC Beale that Jeremy had taken £5-£10 worth of heroin, along with "a couple of beers".

Jeremy was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Nicholas was initially arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs.

He admitted in interview that they had come to Gloucester to buy heroin and shared a "20-deal" which they injected in a car before going to the McDonald's.

Jeremy had used the toilet, but after he didn't return, Nicholas went to investigate and found him on the floor, he said.

Pathologist Dr Jonathan Christie-Brown said Jeremy died from the toxic effects of morphine in his blood, mixed with a quantity of alcohol.

Gloucester coroner Alan Crickmore, who recorded a verdict of accidental death, said: "He injected himself deliberately and willingly and didn't take into account the possibility of an adverse reaction."