A FATHER died after taking a combination of Class A drugs.

Lee Gunn, 40, had gone to see an “acquaintance” on the evening of March 17 and did not return to his home in Langley Crescent in Woodingdean, Brighton, until the following morning.

While out he had taken heroin and methadone – which is often used as a substitute for the former – an inquest heard yesterday.

Mr Gunn had missed numerous calls from his fiancee Sonia Rice, whose car he had borrowed to go to see the acquaintance, Brighton Coroner’s Court was told.

He came back the next day and had argued with his partner about why he had not returned home.

He went upstairs and Miss Rice heard a bang, but thought Mr Gunn had dropped something.

Ten minutes later she found him lying unconscious on the floor and called an ambulance.

Miss Rice performed CPR on him and paramedics tried to reverse the effects of the drugs he had taken, but could not.

Mr Gunn was known to Pavilions, a substance misuse service, and the inquest was told he had a history of smoking heroin and crack cocaine.

A toxicology report showed Mr Gunn to have heroin, methadone, morphine, codeine and small amounts of cocaine and alcohol in him.

An emotional Miss Rice left the courtroom after becoming distressed about details of the case. Nine friends and family members of Mr Gunn’s were at the inquest.

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded Mr Gunn’s cause of death as toxicity of a combination of heroin and methadone. She said he died as a result of misadventure, adding she believed he was not a regular user of the drug.

Mrs Hamilton-Deeley told his family: “I am so sorry. Lee came from such a large family which is close with so many people involved. It is sending so many ripples across the pond.”

Miss Rice, who Mr Gunn had been with for five years, said: “Lee was an amazing, good person. He was caring and selfless.”

Mr Gunn's daughter Kirst Murray, 20, remembers her father fondly.

She said: "He was such a kind soul, a good man and a good dad.

"He was selfless, he was caring, he wasn’t a drug addict and he wasn’t what he’s been made out to be.

"He was just Lee.

"We have all had our pasts but that doesn’t mean he was a bad person.

"He had so much time for everyone.

"He was a good man."