A father who stopped breathing in front of his girlfriend, died of heart failure associated with recreational drug use, an inquest heard.

Thomas Southworth, 27, told his partner he felt sick before he "collapsed suddenly and stopped breathing" in her flat in Northdown Road in Cliftonville.

An inquest at Canterbury Magistrates' Court heard how his partner performed CPR on him before paramedics arrived at the scene on June 26.

The medics peformed CPR on Mr Southworth in the flat for one hour and 20 minutes but he could not be revived.

A black bin from the flat was seized by police which contained spice - a former legal high - and spice paraphernalia.

But the toxicology report confirmed it was not found in his system.

A post-mortem concluded the former Marlowe Academy pupil died of a transient coronary artery spasm in association with recreational drug use - with cocaine consumption in the past 12-hours given as a contributing factor.

Assistant coroner James Dillon said in his closing statement: "There is evidence of cocaine use within approximately 12-hours of his death which was most likely as a result of a transient coronary artery spasm in association with recreational drug use which was an event to which he was at risk given known recreational drug usage."

Friends left tributes to the father and shared posts about him on social media after they heard about his death.

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