A RECOVERING drug addict from Handforth who would ‘do anything for anyone’ died following methadone-induced cardiac damage, an inquest has heard.

Dennis Lee Griffin died aged 41 at his home address in Marthall Way on August 31, 2016.

During an inquest heard at Macclesfield Town Hall on Monday, Jean Harkin, assistant coroner for Cheshire, concluded that Mr Griffin had died due to misadventure, ruling out suicide as a cause of death.

The inquest heard that Mr Griffin was born in Wythenshawe Hospital on May 11, 1975, as the fourth of five children to mother Frances Griffin.

In a written statement, she told the inquest that she was not close to her son, that he had ‘fallen into the wrong crowd’ and did not approve of his drug abuse.

She last spoke to Mr Griffin during the bank holiday weekend last August, days before he died.

“Dennis asked some strange questions about what would happen if he died, where he would be buried,” she said.

“Less than a week later I was visited by a police officer who informed me he was dead.”

The inquest heard that Mr Griffin had suffered from drug addiction, paranoid schizophrenia and depression. He had been a frequent user of cannabis, and had abused heroin.

Mr Griffin had been single after his girlfriend Rachel Barlow died in September 2005, but he remained close to her mother, Anne Barlow.

She told the inquest that Mr Griffin would call her ‘mum’, and that they had planned to visit where Rachel’s ashes had been scattered.

Neighbour Ray Damen told the inquest that Mr Griffin had not been using heroin at the time of his death, but had been using methadone.

Mr Damen said: “He was very good natured and he would do anything for anyone.

“We would try to persuade him to stop [taking drugs] but he would not stop, although he had the respect not to use them when I came to visit.”

The inquest heard that Mr Damen had planned a trip to Bournemouth with Mr Griffin, but he became worried about him when he had not heard from him for a few days.

“I noticed one of his windows was partly open. We knocked on the door but got no answer,” he said.

Mr Damen looked through the window on a stepladder and saw Mr Griffin wasn’t conscious, the inquest heard.

He shouted for him to wake up, before calling the emergency services, who pronounced Mr Griffin as dead.

Joanne Hardman, from the Cheshire East Substance Misuse Service, told the inquest that Mr Griffin had seen his key support worker in July 2016, and had another appointment to see them six months later.

PC Adam Morse added that no suicide notes were found at the time Mr Griffin had died, and that a full cup of coffee was found next to him.

The coroner confirmed that toxicologists had found 0.27mg of methadone in his system, which was close to the average for methadone-induced deaths.

Ms Harkin said: “It’s clear that he took the medication himself, but that he did not intend to die. In support of this was the fact he made a cup of coffee.

“He was looking forward to going to Bournemouth and to going where Rachel’s ashes had been scattered.”