A WREXHAM man with a history of mental illness had a number of drugs in his body when he died in March, an inquest has heard.

Benjamin Jon Williams, 21, of Little Mountain Court in Southsea, was found dead by Police in a flat at Sunset Guest House in Pen y Bryn, after his girlfriend had grown concerned because she hadn’t heard from him in hours.

Mr Gittins, coroner for North Wales (East and Central) told the hearing at Wrexham Guildhall that Mr Williams, a former student at Ysgol Plas Coch and Coleg Cambria, had suffered from a history of mental illness and in November last year had travelled to Chirk with the intention of taking his own life by jumping from a bridge, but had instead called Police, after which he was detained under the Mental Health Act.

Although Mr Williams made a further attempt at taking his own life, when he was admitted to hospital with self-inflicted lacerations to his left leg, assessments made by a consultant psychologist had found no evidence of a psychotic disorder.

Mr Williams’ mother Samantha Hazlewood had earlier told the court how her son had received treatment for his mental health problems and despite periods of being down, was very much loved with an infectious personality, whose death had left a huge void.

In a statement read out in the court, Mr William’s girlfriend Amy Rogers, said how they had met in June last year and although she had been aware of his mental health problems and borderline personality disorder, losing his job following a disagreement with his employer had resulted in a domino effect on his state of mind.

She said: “I loved him more than words can say and despite his illness he was the funniest person to be around. He was my soulmate.”

However, when officers returned just before 1am, they were let into the building by another resident and forced entry into the flat, where the body of Mr Williams was found lying on his back, wearing disconnected earphones, with one hand on his cheek, with no obvious cause of death.

However, toxicology tests carried out on Mr Williams body found the presence of several drugs in his blood and urine, including both diazapam, morphine (which suggested previous heroin use) which had more than probably resulted in a death caused by opiate toxicity.

In reaching a conclusion of a drug related death, Mr Gittins told the family that although Mr Williams had spoken previously about taking his own life, he didn’t believe it was possible to have the view that this was an instance of suicide.