AN inquest will hear today about the death of a Hampshire man after he drank a fruit drink laced with cocaine.

Joromie Lewis, 33, a Royal Navy veteran, died within hours of consuming the Cole Cold Pear D drink in Southampton.

Mr Lewis immediately became ill after unwittingly drinking from the juice bottle contaminated with a lethal amount of the class A drug.

The 33-year-old, of Kings Road, Gosport, died on December 5 last year, just hours after he consumed a small amount of the beverage while working at his employer’s lock-up garage in Bitterne.

His death sparked a major police investigation and five people, including two men aged 37 and 38, and a 37-year-old woman from Southampton, were arrested on suspicion of drugs offences.

Police said no further action will be taken against them after they answered bail in April.

His death prompted a nationwide appeal to traders from the Food Standards Agency to withdraw Pear-D if found on their shelves.

Mr Lewis’s wife Jayrusha paid tribute to her church-going husband and described him as a “devoted family-oriented man with a selfless attitude to help others”.

He joined the church more than three years ago, shortly after the birth of his daughter.