A MACHINE operator from Wrexham was found dead at his home, a inquest was told.

Ian Russell Jenkins died on September 20, aged 45.

A resumed inquest into his death heard he had been found in his bed by his mother, with whom he lived in Acton Park Way, Acton.

Joanne Lees, assistant coroner for North Wales (East and Central), concluded it was a drug-related death.

She told the hearing Mr Jenkins had a history of anxiety and depression.

Mr Jenkins, who had also served in the Army, was taking a number of prescription medications and suffered from arthritis.

His sister Michelle told the hearing at Ruthin that her brother was a very private and ‘reclusive’ person who rarely left his room.

Asked when his depression and anxiety had started, she said she believed it to have begun at a young age when their parents divorced which, she said, he "never really got over".

Paramedics called to Mr Jenkins' home on September 20 confirmed he had already died.

A clear cause of death was not forthcoming following a post-mortem examination carried out by Dr Mark Atkinson, the inquest was told.

But he was able to determine a cause once he had spoken with family members at the hearing.

He explained Mr Jenkins had a large fatty liver, a condition usually associated with alcohol consumption.

Family members explained he had stopped drinking in his mid-twenties.

Dr Atkinson said a number of prescription medications were discovered Mr Jenkins' blood, none of which reached a toxic level.

There was also morphine – a substance not contained in any of his prescription medications – detected at a level above that of normal therapeutic use.

Dr Atkinson said while it was possible the quantity of morphine could have been potentially lethal to Mr Jenkins, it would have depended on whether he was acclimatised to the drug.

He said: "If it's a one-off, I think it's relevant. If it's habitual, I doubt it."

Family members agreed they had never known him to take anything containing morphine and they doubted he had been using it on a regular basis.

As to where the morphine had come from, the hearing was told the night before his death he had gone out and might have obtained a medication containing the substance from someone he knew.

Dr Atkinson concluded fatty hepatitis and morphine usage had been the medical cause of Mr Jenkins' death.