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Police say there is no evidence to suggest a much-loved dad was attacked on the beach the day before his death, an inquest has heard.
Adam Huckle died at the QEQM hospital in Margate in August after being found without a pulse at a friend's flat in the town's Tomlin Drive.
The homeless drug user's unexplained death prompted a police investigation following reports he had been attacked while sleeping rough on Margate main sands the morning before.
However, an inquest in Maidstone today heard how after reviewing 300 hours of CCTV and interviewing witnesses, it was a possibility the story was fabricated in an attempt to find a place to sleep and get drugs.
But his younger sister Lisa Hall, who attended the hearing virtually, said rib injuries discovered on her brother suggested he had been attacked, as did Mr Huckle being missing for a couple of hours on the day of the alleged assault.
The court heard how on Friday, August 8, Mr Huckle was seen by friend Carl Ennis in the town looking "in a bad way", with the 36-year-old insisting he had been attacked and needed drugs to stop the pain, despite no visible injuries.
DS Richard Allingham said it is thought Mr Huckle had suffered heat stroke, and was given crack cocaine and heroin, something he used daily, by his friend.
The detective explained how CCTV the next day showed the father-of-one walking around the town, from Invicta House in Millmead Road to Elham Close, and walking through heavy doors with no problems.
This, coupled with being unable to find any independent witnesses who saw the assault and his previous history of fabricating stories, resulted in police ruling no third party involvement in his death.
On the night before he died, Mr Huckle bumped into Mr Ennis, who thought he looked as if he had sunstroke and offered for him to stay at his home in Tomlin Drive.
Mr Ennis and his partner Nicola said Mr Huckle was dazed, shakey, and struggling to breathe before they went to bed at about 2am.
On Sunday, August 9, Nicola woke at around 8am to hear the guest in the bathroom making noise. She went to check on him and found him struggling to breathe. He asked her to ring an ambulance.
An ambulance arrived at the scene seven minutes later and paramedics performed CPR for about two hours before deciding to take the patient to to hospital.
Shortly after arriving at the hospital, Mr Huckle was pronounced dead at 10.12am.
His cause of death was given as respiratory failure from pneumonia and abscess cavity formation from morphine consumption and psoriasis of the liver.
Assistant coroner Eileen Sproson read evidence from the post-mortem detailing Mr Huckle's rib injures, something which was a concern to sister Lisa, and explained the report said ribs two to seven were broken on each side of him, which most likely came as a result of using a mechanical chest compression machine during CPR attempts.
Further evidence found a high and potentially fatal level of morphine in Mr Huckle's system, as well as two broken needles in his shin, a needle mark in his groin, an empty vial of morphine in the bathroom and drug paraphernalia in his bag.
'He was such a well-loved man'
A statement from Mr Huckle's sister Lisa Hall explained how he had struggled throughout his life, having been introduced to drugs - including cannabis and cocaine - at the age of 12.
He had spent time in prison but was described as a "gentle person who was never violent", by his sister.
The coroner gave a narrative conclusion where she said it was "more likely than not" he had taken drugs the night before or on the morning of his death, but she wasn't satisfied it was a drugs-related death due to the pneumonia.
Ms Hall previously told KentOnline how Mr Huckle's family had been left "heartbroken" by the death of her "loving, funny" brother.
“He was such a well-loved man," she added.
