The mother of a man who died from a fatal combination of drugs said it has left a “huge hole” in their family.

She was speaking after an inquest into the death of son Daryl James Harper, of Swindon, born August 21, 1979, at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court on September 17.

Daryl was found deceased aged 42 in his Liden apartment on July 3, 2022, the cause being decided as drug-related after a mixture of drugs was found in his system.

She said: “My son was not a bad person. He was very kind, caring and considerate and his death has left a huge hole in our family and I miss him every day.

“He had his challenges like many people do and I’m sure his loss will be felt for many years to come.”

Public concern led police to attend Daryl’s apartment. Although the door was open, they had some difficulty entering as he had blocked the door with a bike, due to security concerns in the area.

Paramedics arrived and at 9.27pm confirmed he had passed away.

“When you have addiction problems that is all people saw”, said Daryl’s mother. 

Daryl started taking pain medication for a nerve injury from a motorbike accident when he was 16.

His doctor, Dr Strong, said: “I liked Darren. We had a good relationship in many ways and I'm sure that his drug-seeking behavior was as difficult for him as it was for me.

“He'd been using drugs for all of the 20 years that I've known him and over the past years, the consultations had been virtually solely related to his drug misuse. 

“Over the years, he'd accumulated a list of repeat medication with these aims in mind, but it was clearly not achieving the aims.”

Strong said that some of Daryl’s pains were “functional”, felt due to low mood and anxiety.

He explained: “You can get reliant on medication even though there's not a physical manifestation.

Adding: “I believed his drug-seeking behaviour increased his anxiety and led him further into depression. 

“This then led to him seeking more psychoactive drugs from both ourselves and off the street and in 2009 he experienced drug-induced paranoia.”

Daryl’s body was found with a mixture of drugs that when taken together would have a strong effect.  

Coroner Mr David Ridley said: “I think that's what's happened here is lowered his respiratory function and he's lost consciousness and entered into a coma and sadly at some point his heart is stopped.”