A CORONER has ruled that a male nurse committed suicide by injecting a lethal cocktail of drugs by intravenous drip.

Robert Varma, 32, was found lying dead on a bed at his semi-detached home in Lodge Court, Staining, on December 24, after his ex-girlfriend, Rachel Miller, raised the alarm when she was unable to contact him.

Evidence at the scene suggested that the trained nurse had taken his own life in what paramedics described as a "professional suicide".

Recording a verdict of suicide, Blackpool Coroner, Mr Samuel Lee, spoke directly to the deceased's mother, Linda Varma. He said: "This is one of the most bizarre and bewildering cases I have had to deal with so far and there are two issues which cause me some concern.

Two intravenous drips were attached to his right arm and thigh containing large quantities of the sleeping drug diazinine and painkiller diaztranol.

Other drug paraphernalia found by his bedside included a bag of sodium chloride and a tourniquet.

Ms Miller told the inquest , held in Blackpool last Thursday, how Mr Varma had taken the breakdown of their relationship badly and had told her that he didn't know how he would get through the Christmas week without her.

But, following the discovery of his body, Ms Miller found four vials of insulin in a downstairs kitchen bin, prompting family concerns that the death may have been 'assisted'.

Further questions were raised after an anonymous caller contacted the Crimestoppers crime prevention line on January 10, suggesting that Mr Varma died in suspicious circumstances.

Subsequent police investigations proved to be fruitless -- despite an appeal for the mystery informer to come forward -- and a post-mortem conducted on Mr Varma's body proved to be inconclusive.

"Firstly the sophisticated assembly of injections set up to go into Robert's body," added Mr Lee: "from descriptions of which it does seem possible that your son was assisted in his death.

"Secondly, why on earth would someone make that call to Crimestoppers for no reason?

"But I am satisfied that police conducted a thorough investigation into this case and there is no conclusive evidence to suggest anything other than that your son was quite willing to kill himself."

This is the third untimely death to hit the family in the last 15 years.

Mr Varma's parents -- Linda and Dr Fred Varma -- launched a lengthy campaign for justice after their other son, Christopher, 7, was knocked down and killed in a motorcycling accident in 1987.

But after bringing the motorcyclist to trial he was acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving and received a two-year ban with a £250 fine for careless driving.

Dr Varma committed suicide by stabbing himself to death in the bath ten years after the accident.