A NURSE who battled alcohol addiction and substance misuse died after taking a fatal cocktail of drugs, an inquest heard.

Mother-of-one Michelle Louise Hughes, who was born in Blackburn but lived in Langho, was found face down in a ditch by a dog walker after ingesting 28 times the amount of morphine that would be given to a non-tolerant person for pain relief.

At an emotional inquest Mrs Hughes’s mother Julie Brown told the hearing how she had pleaded with her daughter to stop taking drugs and said she had been playing 'Russian roulette' with her life.

But the inquest at Ribble Valley Town Hall heard how Mrs Hughes, 42, had turned to alcohol after the breakdown of her marriage, and believed she had developed a tolerance to drugs.

The inquest heard Mrs Hughes was found dead by dog walker Tracey Bolton in a field between Old Langho Road and the A59, Langho, at 10am on January 14. She was holding a dog lead and had her mobile phone in her pocket.

Mrs Hughes had been reported missing by her sister Victoria Wilson after neighbours had raised concerns about her whereabouts and her dog had returned home alone.

A wide-scale police search was launched, involving the force helicopter.

An initial post-mortem examination proved inconclusive and the pathologist ordered a toxicology report.

That showed Mrs Hughes had a number of drugs in her system, including morphine, cocaine and Benzodiazepine.

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The inquest heard that had caused difficulty with her breathing.

There was no alcohol found in her system.

Giving evidence to the hearing, Mrs Brown, said: “What Michelle would do was come off the alcohol and turn to drugs. Sometimes she would mix them together.

“I used to say to her constantly - because I knew the amount of drugs she was taking 'you’re playing Russian roulette with your life'. This is dangerous. She explained she had built up a tolerance to it.”

When asked by Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley coroner Michael Singleton if they thought Mrs Hughes could have taken her own life, Mrs Brown and her daughter’s close friend Justin Nixon both said; “No.”

Mr Nixon said Mrs Hughes had taken herself to Royal Blackburn Hospital for treatment on January 10 but had discharged herself after saying she had stomach pain and had been left waiting on a bed all day.

Mr Singleton ruled that Mrs Hughes, of East View Terrace, Langho, never intended to take her own life and gave a conclusion of drug-related death.

Mr Singleton added: “I am satisfied from the evidence that there is nothing to support the view that Mrs Hughes took the drugs to bring about her own demise.”