A KENDAL man who previously had addiction issues has died as the result of a drug related death, an inquest heard.

John George Mitchell died at the age of 44 on September 9, 2019 from a lethal overdose of opioids.

The Kent Street resident’s mother Angela Mitchell raised her concern during the hearing about the suspicious circumstances of her son’s death.

“He had been clean for several months before his death,” she told the Coroner’s Court in Cockermouth.

“We went on a family walk with him and his nephews shortly before he died.

“To this day I cannot accept that he died this way, I suspected foul play.

“A man with a mask had knocked on his door the Thursday before his death and he had called the police. He was feeling agitated by this incident.

“I strongly believe something untoward happened before his death.”

In her statement Mrs Mitchell she also said that her son was born in Barrow and grew up in Kirkby-in-Furness with brothers Peter and James. The family moved to Kendal where John attended Queen Katherine School.

She said she had split from Mr Mitchell’s father when John was 12, and he found this difficult.

The coroner was also told how Mr Mitchell got into cannabis after he started work as a chef in Ambleside in his 20s. He later got into heroin after he suffered a foot injury while hiking.

He went to rehab but relapsed at times. One such time was after the death of his father in 2008.

“He had spent all his father’s inheritance money on drugs within six months,” Mrs Mitchell told the court.

In a statement his brother James Mitchell, revealed it was him who had discovered his brother’s body in his flat after turning up to find the flat door was unlocked.

He told the coroner this was strange as he always made sure his door was locked.

Despite reporting these concerns to the police officers found no suspicious circumstances.

PC Adam Barsky, who attended the incident, said in a statement: “The neighbour reported hearing a number of male voices shouting a few nights prior.

“We searched the flat for drug paraphernalia. The decision was made not to treat the death as suspicious.”

Coroner Simon Ward addressed the suspicions by saying the bar would be very high in terms of evidence for him to give a conclusion of third party killing.

“The evidence does raise an eyebrow though, but there is not enough evidence for me to give that conclusion,” he said. “I have to be guided by the police.”

Mr Ward recorded a drug related death.