A drug addict died after taking a fatal dose of a heroin substitute, an inquest heard.

Barry Russell could not be revived after consuming an unknown amount of methadone in Albany Road, Sittingbourne.

The 35-year-old was pronounced dead at the flat by medics in the early hours of April 23.

Police were called and an investigation led to the arrest of a 63-year-old man, who was subsequently released without charge.

Det Sgt Andrew Lambert told the inquest, at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone, that various drug-related items had been found at the flat he shared with his partner.

She was also on methadone but he said there were no signs of violence or a disturbance and nothing to suggest Mr Russell had deliberately taken his life.

The arrest partly came about, added DS Lambert, because he had been given tablets but they had not played a part in his death.

A post mortem proved inconclusive but toxicology tests revealed the presence of methadone, as well as cocaine and heroin.

The cause of death was given as methadone toxicity.

Mr Russell, who was adopted as a child, had a history of health problems.

He suffered kidney failure and had received a transplant but he continued to use drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine, and had been assessed by substance misuse service Turning Point.

In the months before he died, he had regularly abused both prescription and illicit drugs and had been asking family members for money, the inquest heard.

He had also been taking sleeping tablets and was awaiting court proceedings after an altercation with a man in connection with a former partner.

Assistant Mid Kent and Medway coroner Kate Thomas said that on the day before he died Mr Russell had taken a cocktail of drugs, including more methadone than he had been prescribed, but there was not enough evidence to suggest suicide.

“Mr Russell was found dead at his flat having unintentionally ingested a fatal quantity of methadone,” she said. “I record a conclusion of drug-related death.”