A HAMPSHIRE man who suffered a lethal cocaine overdose from a single swig of a soft drink died as the result of an accident, an inquest ruled.

Joromie Lewis, 33, died hours after drinking some contaminated Cole Cold Pear-D imported from St Vincent.

He had only taken a swig, and immediately spat out the beverage.

It is thought the bottle contained up to 137g of cocaine, meaning a street value of around £50,000, according to police.

The jury at Central Hampshire Coroners Court took just under an hour to return their verdict of accidental death.

His widow Jayrusha declined to comment after the proceedings.

Earlier Coroner Grahame Short described his death as a "tragedy in the real sense of the word" and added there was nothing that could have been done to prevent his death after drinking the cocaine.

DS Glynn White said police did not know how or where the drug was added to the drink but there was no evidence to link either Kelly's Shipping or Joromie to the cocaine or illegal activity.

He also issued a warning to all enforcement agencies to be aware drugs could be imported into the country in this fashion again.

But the investigation has stalled as DS White confirmed there were no direct enquiries ongoing.

Meanwhile, Miss Allen said "lessons had been learned" since the incident.

She said: "Since the incident we have not imported any drinks for anybody.

"That is not to say we won't again but we have taken the decision not to import for a third party again and to source anything we import ourselves."