A 39-year-old Blackburn man was found dead in Goa with needle mark on his foot and an unknown white powder nearby, an inquest was told.

But Coroner Michael Singleton said that despite three-and-a-half years of inquiries he had been unable to provide answers for the family and friends of Robert Kreft.

The inquest heard that Mr Kreft had gone to the Indian resort with his girlfriend Jane Everet and en-route they had bumped into an old friend, Peter Nichols, and his friend, Lee Baron, who by coincidence were holidaying in the same resort.

After what all three described as a minor tiff with Miss Everet on April 24 2005, Mr Kreft rode off on his hired motorbike and was never seen alive by the three again.

He was found dead in a guest house room the next day. In the room the police found a quantity of white powder and three needles.

But toxicological tests for drugs carried out in Goa came back negative despite screening for heroin, cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy and amphetamine.

Mr Kreft’s body was discovered at the Villa Fatima Guest House the next day and a post-mortem examination revealed a needle puncture mark on his foot.

Mr Singleton said that prior to receiving the toxicology report from Goa he had fully expected to be dealing with a case of a former heroin user returning to the drug and dying because he no longer had the same tolerance as had been built up when he was a regular user.

“We will never know what the white powder was,” said Mr Singleton. “The thing about toxicology is that you have to know what you are testing for before you can establish its presence.

“Unfortunately we will never know what that powder was and the truth is that Mr Kreft probably did not know either.”

“There are no more inquiries I can make to discover exactly what happened.”

The medical cause of death was unascertained and Mr Singleton recorded an open verdict .

Miss Everet told how she had been with Mr Kreft, of Gorse Road, for 18 months and he had never taken drugs during their time together.

His mother, Joan Poole, confirmed he had previously had a problem with heroin but had been clean for four years prior to his death.

Miss Kreft told how the four friends had been out for a meal and after the row she had returned to their room alone. Mr Kreft returned shortly after and asked for the key to the room safe where the money was kept. She refused and he stormed off.

Questioned about how much money he would have had Miss Everet said she didn’t know but recalled that his designer sunglasses were never found, suggesting he may have traded them for the powder.