AN unemployed Pensnett man died after taking a lethal cocktail of alcohol and drugs.

Jon Patrick Birks was found dead in his bedroom at Heydon Road following a late night binge.

His mother, Angela Keilty, discovered his body the following afternoon.

She told an inquest in Smethwick that her son was taking painkilling and anti-depressant drugs.

He had been prescribed the drugs because he was having difficulty sleeping and had overdosed on them only the previous month which had resulted with him spending three days in Russells Hall Hospital.

She told coroner Robin Balmain, that on the day of his death, he had been drunk earlier in the evening and said: "I cooked him his dinner and told him not to eat it too late."

The following morning she went to Merry Hill and left her son to sleep in. She discovered his body on her return at 2pm on October 19.

Consultant pathologist Satnor Goosh told the inquest that death had been caused by gastric aspiration through alcohol intoxication.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded.