A FATHER died after taking heroin – only 10 months after his two-year-old daughter died of meningitis.

An inquest in Blackburn heard Leroy James Parker had been smoking heroin with friends Derek Pinch and Russel Summers at his house in Duck Street, Clitheroe, on the evening of September 22, 2017.

The court heard the three men had a £10 bag of drugs each, with Mr Parker, 31, doing ‘five to six lines’ and had been drinking.

In a statement read out by coroner Richard Taylor, Mr Pinch said the men had stayed up throughout the night went to bed at around 6am.

When he woke up at 10am he found Mr Parker snoring on the living room settee.

Mr Pinch said at around 6.15pm he went to check on Mr Parker and noticed had vomit on his right side of his face.

He said: “I could see he was not breathing. I shouted to Russel to come down stairs which he did.

“We both moved Leroy and laid him on the floor, placed him in recovery position and started clearing sick from his mouth.”

The inquest heard paramedics arrived and Mr Parker was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital where he died.

In the statement, Mr Pinch said his friend was not a heroin addict.

He said he was aware Mr Parker suffered from anxiety and asthma, and was aware his daughter, Jazmin Louisa Parker, had died from meningitis in November 2016.

In the aftermath of that tragedy, Mr Parker had spoken out to spread the word of how fast meningitis can take hold in the hope of saving other children.

In a statement, Mr Summers said he saw Mr Parker’s lips had turned a blue so he began chest compressions and performed mouth-to-mouth.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Cheyte told the inquest that during the investigation he inspected all the rooms in the house to see if there was anything suspicious.

He said: “There were signs of drug use and there was foil, which is used to smoke heroin.

“There was nothing found in the house that caused any suspicion at all.”

Dr Deepa Jacob, from Royal Blackburn Hospital, carried out a toxicology tests on Mr Parker and discovered morphine, sedatives and cocaine in his blood.

Dr Jacob said heroin, when taken with alcohol and sedatives, suppresses the respiratory system.

She said: “It reduces the rate of breathing, it prevents you breathing.

“Because the morphine was a high dose, the morphine could have killed him on its own.”

Dr Jacob said the medical cause of death was respiratory depression.

Mr Taylor said he concluded Mr Parker, who was born in Blackburn, died from misadventure.

Speaking to Mr Parker’s family and friends, he said: “I offer my sincere condolences to you all and thank you for coming today.

“I know these things are very difficult when a loved one dies.

“This was out of character, this was not what he did.

“It's difficult to comprehend. He was a very naive user.

“It was the unintentional outcome of an intentional act.

“He died on September 23, 2017 having ingested an excess of drugs.”

After the inquest, Jan Bisping, Mr Parker’s stepfather, said: “Myself and Leroy’s family and friends would like to thank the coroner for his time today.”