A BOXER who suffered curvature of the spine died after taking a deadly mix of drugs including cocaine, amphetamines and morphine, an inquest heard.

John Murphy, of Exeter Street, was found at his dad's friend's house on July 12 after spending the evening drinking with him.

The 29-year-old had been taking prescribed medication for depression, but had also be self-medicating because of the pain caused by scoliosis, also known as curvature of the spine.

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His father Christopher Alston told the inquest at Blackburn Enterprise Centre his son also took steroids.

The inquest heard the day before he died he had been staying at an address in Arran Avenue with his father and they had been drinking.

They fell asleep and Mr Alston was woken up by his partner the next day to say she had rung the ambulance because she was concerned about Mr Murphy.

Mr Alston said his son had been sick and he picked him up and he was saying something like he had 'had enough'.

He said: "He was doing boxing. He wanted to be like everybody else. He could have been a professional boxer if it had not been for the spine problem.

"He wanted to have an operation when he was 18, but they could not do it.

"He was depressed. He used to say 'I have had enough' especially in winter when the pain was bad. He loved his boxing. It used to hurt him but he still carried on."

Dr Muammer Al-Mudhaffer, who carried out a postmortem, told the inquest Mr Murphy had died from aspiration pneumonia with drug use, asthma and the scoliosis "significant factors contributing to the cause of death".

Coroner Michael Singleton said: "I am satisfied of the contributing factors the most significant was the combined drug use and find on the balance of probabilities this was a drugs related death.

"It is not in the natural order of events to bury your child. For all he had physical problems by the sound of it he was somebody who was up for the fight," he added.