THE parents of a man who died after consuming too much of the drug, spice, have said more communication is needed between mental health services and drug rehabilitation organisations such as Inspire.

Nigel and Jill Vince spoke at an inquest into the death of their son, Michael, who was found dead at his home in Blackburn on August 28 last year.

The inquest heard that Mr Vince, 34, had been suffering from depression and anxiety for a number of years, and would try to cope with this by using alcohol, heroin and spice.

Following a spell in prison, Mr Vince had managed to wean himself off heroin but on his release was still regularly drinking heavily - up to three litres of cider a day - as well as smoking spice.

Coroner Richard Taylor said that Mr Vince, who lived at St Silas Road, Blackburn, had last been seen by his friend, Steven Leggat, on August 26, two days before he was found dead.

Mr Taylor said: "Mr Leggat said he last saw Michael on August 26, when he had been to his home address and together they had spent the day chilling out and listening to music.

"Mr Leggat left the following morning, although he returned to the flat a little while later but got no answer from Michael.

"He then went back the next day and found Michael on the floor."

Toxicology results indicated that there was an excess of spice in his system as well as ethanol at levels that were consistent with alcohol toxicity.

It was heard that Mr Vince had been engaging with the drug service, Inspire, since 2015 and was co-operating with the services and advice provided to him.

However, the inquest was told that Mr Vince had attempted suicide in June 2018, but just weeks before his death, he had expressed that his mental health was much improved due to him abstaining from illicit substances, and the last time he was seen at Inspire, on August 7, a urine sample came back negative for drugs.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Laura Leonard who works for Inspire, said it was really positive that Mr Vince had come to them and expressed he wanted to come off drugs.

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However, she said there were things that could be learned from what happened with Mr Vince, including the fact he was suffering from several mental health problems and there should be better links with the mental health teams.

His father, Nigel Vince said: "We want to thank the people at Inspire and for all the times they were there to help Michael.

"For us though there needs to be better relations with the mental health teams and services such as Inspire."

Mr Taylor recorded a conclusion of misadventure and said Mr Vince died of a drug related death.