A drug addict who injected herself with a fatal amount of heroin was racked with guilt after doing the same to a man she had just met, an inquest heard.

Samantha Loftus also feared going to prison over the death of 37-year-old Ryan Green, of Cliffe Woods, after she gave him the drug at her flat in Strood, last June 2015 – causing a fatal heart attack.

Three months later - and facing a charge of manslaughter - she was in hospital, effectively brain dead, having taken a lethal dose.

Last month, KentOnline revealed how Mr Green’s sister, Dawn, 35, who runs the Boat pub in Gravesend had filmed Loftus admitting having been responsible for her brother’s death.

An inquest heard evidence from Miss Loftus’ friend, Jonathan Martin, who had been present when Mr Green, formerly of Gravesend, had been fatally injected, and believed she had taken her own life as a direct consequence of that night.

His account was relayed by investigating officer DS Ian McCarthy, who said Martin – who had also pleaded guilty to stealing Mr Green’s iPhone – had known Miss Loftus for 20 years, since he was 13.

“He described her as being distraught and that she blamed herself for Ryan’s death and made comments that she wanted to die,” said DS McCarthy.

“She was worried about going to prison and about what her family would think. He did say that she would have known how much heroin to take.

“He stressed how upset she had been about Ryan and in his opinion she knew what she was doing and that she wanted to end her life, but that was just his view.”

Martin said Miss Loftus had been a habitual heroin user but that she had stopped injecting it, although she occasionally smoked it.

But DS McCarthy said no further evidence of intent to commit suicide could be found at the address in Fisher Street, Maidstone, where she had been living at the time of her death.

VIDEO: Samantha Loftus admits injecting Ryan Green with fatal dose

The court heard she had moved back to Maidstone since the incident in Strood, and was living with a man – named in court only as Mr Woods – who had found her unconscious on the morning of September 15.

He had attempted to use an anti-overdose kit and perform CPR, and paramedics were able to resuscitate her, but tests performed later at Maidstone Hospital showed she was effectively brain dead.

Pathologist Dr David Rouse concluded that Miss Loftus died from “irreversible cerebral hypoxia” caused by morphine poisoning.

DS McCarthy said Mr Woods had been arrested on suspicion of administering the drug, but later released without charge after further forensic tests found only Miss Loftus’s fingerprints on the syringe.

Coroner Kate Thomas addressed the connection to Mr Green’s death, saying: “It’s right to say Miss Loftus was probably aware she was likely to be charged in relation to that death.

“I accept this was probably instrumental in Miss Loftus returning to use heroin.”

But she said there was insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion of suicide, and noted heroin tolerance is easily lost if the drug is not taken regularly.

“She didn’t take her own life,” she concluded. “I will record this was a drug-related death. Samantha Loftus died on September 17 2015 at Maidstone Hospital from irreversible cerebral hypoxia having injected herself with a lethal quantity of heroin.”