- John Bentley had taken a ‘huge amount’ of monkey dust (hard drug)
A 27-year-old man took a ‘huge amount’ of monkey dust before killing himself in a video call to his ex-partner.
The ex-girlfriend raised the alarm after seeing John Bentley attempting to take his own life in the Smallthorne home he shared with his mum.
Three ambulances descended on the Cliff Street property following the 999 call.
But it was too late and John was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination found morphine and heroin as well as the monkey dust in his system.
The inquest heard John had suffered with his mental health ever since the death of his dad when he was aged just 10.
In a statement, mum Debra Bentley said: “Three days earlier my daughter had come to visit. She found a picture of John and his dad and numerous suicide notes addressed to friends and family.
“I called 111 and they gave me the number for the crisis team. He wouldn’t let this happen and said he was OK.
“I was not aware that he had any intention to take his own life. I would have stopped him and supported him.”
The inquest heard the relationship between John and his girlfriend had ended a year earlier.
PC Georgina Brudzinska spoke to his ex-partner following the tragedy.
The officer said: “She had been in a relationship with him but they had separated one year earlier. She told him it was over.
“She received a video call from Mr Bentley at 6am and he stated he could not live without her. She said ‘I can’t live with you’.
“He phoned again and put his phone down. He went into the loft. She tried to call his mother but there was no answer so she called 999. She said he was drugged out of his face.”
Emergency services discovered John hanged in a bedroom.
A police officer told the inquest: “We received a call from someone who said she had watched him do it. She said he climbed into the loft and hanged himself. She had been on a video call while it had been taking place. She called the ambulance. There was no third party involvement.”
North Staffordshire senior coroner Andrew Barkley has ruled that John committed suicide. The cause of death was hanging.
He said: “This was an intentional act committed by him.”