A 22-YEAR-OLD man accidentally killed himself by overdosing on his girlfriend’s drugs after they rowed, an inquest heard.

Jordan Dale had threatened to take his own life – then overdosed on partner Rosemary O’Keefe’s prescription drugs at their home in Ditchling Road, Brighton, last October.

The two were walking home when the argument broke out and Ms O’Keefe refused to let her boyfriend in her flat.

Mr Dale threw eggs at Ms O’Keefe’s windows, prompting her to phone police.

Mr Dale fled but returnedshortly after and was let in.

He threatened to kill himself, telling her he would take her prescribed drugs, the inquest at Brighton Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday.

Ms O’Keefe, an ex-heroin addict, had methadone – a substitute for the Class A drug, Gabapentin, which helps treat epilepsy, and other drugs prescribed to her.

And it was a lethal mix of the methadone and Gabapentin that caused Mr Dale’s death, along with Diazepam – a muscle relaxant – he had taken.

The young man, originally from Ramsgate in Kent, had been sofa surfing for about a year before meeting Ms O’Keefe at The Level skate park in Brighton and subsequently moving in with her.

He had served time at Elmley Prison in Kent before he came to Brighton and had removed an electronic tag, the inquest was told.

After Mr Dale made the threat to Ms O’Keefe, she did not believe he would do it and went to sleep.

However, in the early hours of October 3, she woke to find him slumped lifeless on the bedroom floor.

Ms O’Keefe was arrested at the scene on suspicion of supplying Mr Dale with the drugs.

However, in her police interview, she stressed that “everything that you have found in there is mine”, Detective Sergeant Julian Deans told the court.

Despite a solicitor advising Ms O’Keefe not to comment, during her police interview, she continued to do so.

The inquest heard Ms O’Keefe “lives a chaotic life”.

A toxicology report found Mr Dale had methadone, Gabapentin, a small amount of alcohol and cannabis, which he used regularly.

He was not a known user of Class A drugs.

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded Mr Dale’s cause of death as fatal toxicity of a combination of methadone and Gabapentin.

The presence of Diazepam was a contributing factor.

Mrs Hamilton-Deeley concluded Mr Dale’s death was through misadventure.

“It is so very sad such a young chap should die in these circumstances,” she added.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Dale’s mother Andrea, 50, told The Argus: “It still hasn’t sunk in that he’s dead because he wasn’t living at home.

“I still expect him to walk through the door.

“Jordan was mischievous but in a good way.

“No matter what he haddone, he had a grin that could melt your heart and make you forget what he’d done wrong.

“Jordan loved being outdoors all the time, I think that’s why he became ‘homeless’.

“He didn’t see it as being homeless I don’t think.”

Mr Dale also leaves behind six siblings – three brothers and three sisters.