A heroin addict from Winchester, who started using drugs at the age of 13, died from an overdose, an inquest heard.

Paul Colman (39), who was living in the Victoria Housing Project in Hyde Gate, had a history of heroin abuse and overdosing.

He was found unconscious in his room, surrounded by hypodermic needles and other drug-related paraphernalia, and was taken to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, where he later died.

Rebecca Wayne, the support worker who found him, said Mr Colman had regained semi-consciousness and she had stayed with him until the ambulance arrived.

"The conversation was very limited. I kept talking to him a lot but he held my hand and kept saying 'I'm sorry' and 'thank you'," she said.

"He was very incoherent, mumbling things but not anything I could understand."

The inquest at Winchester heard a statement from Mr Colman's GP who described his mood as low and lifestyle chaotic in the months before his death.

The inquest heard that he had begun using drugs when he was 13 but his parents had not become aware of his habit until many years later.

"He was very easily led," said his father, James, in a statement.

He described how his son's wife had left him because of his involvement with drugs and how she had stopped him seeing their seven-year-old daughter.

Pathologist, Dr Belvinder Shoker, said Mr Colman had responded to an anti-narcotic when he was admitted to hospital but this had not been enough to save his life.

He explained that heroin could cause death by heart failure or by stopping breathing.

Deputy coroner, Simon Burge, concluded that Mr Colman died of acute narcotisman overdose of a drug believed to be heroin.

"I hope those who read about this case will think twice before dabbling with illegal drugs because of the sad consequences which can so often follow," he said.

"People become completely obsessed with their next fix; it would seem that Paul Colman, towards the end of his life, was in that state."

Mr Burge said he was satisfied Mr Colman had not intended to take his own life and recorded a verdict of accidental death.