A MAN was found dead in his friend’s flat having taken methadone.

Matthew Godfrey was homeless and often slept in the streets in Brighton.

He was found unresponsive on May 2 in a bed in York Place, Brighton, where he occasionally stayed the night with friends.

Doctor Catherine Guy carried out a post-mortem.

Results showed Mr Godfrey had consumed methadone, an opioid, and had benzodiazepine, a tranquiliser drug, in his system at the time of his death.

An opening inquest into why Mr Godfrey was found dead, held at Woodvale coroner’s court in Brighton, heard the provisional cause of death was methadone toxicity and the presence of benzodiazepine.

Coroner for Brighton and Hove Veronica Hamilton-Deeley said: “I understand if you are naive to methadone and take too much it can kill you, unless you are prescribed it for treatment.”

She told the court there was a bottle that may have contained methadone at the address where Mr Godfrey was and police are still investigating.

The full inquest into his death will be held on August 10.