Teenager Amy Hall was found dead in her bedroom after she injected the killer drug heroin, an inquest heard.

The 18-year-old was found by her mother, Elizabeth, at her home in Ferry Road, Marston, Oxford, on August 18.

Yesterday, an inquest in Oxford heard how Amy, a dresser at the Apollo Theatre in George Street and a registered heroin addict, had used drugs, including cannabis and amphetamines, since the age of 14.

She had just returned from a three-week holiday travelling around Europe and was due to begin a design course at North Oxfordshire College, Banbury.

Her mother told the inquest Amy had stayed at home on the day of her death when her family went for a picnic. When they returned, Mrs Hall found Amy's door locked.

Mrs Hall got someone to break in through the teenager's bedroom window and despite efforts to revive her Amy was dead. Police later found syringes and the drug paraphernalia in her room. A post mortem examination found Amy died from a drugs overdose.

Mrs Hall said Amy had written in her diary during her holiday that she had stopped taking heroin. and she "wouldn't have cared if she did not do it again."

Mrs Hall added: "She knew how dangerous it would be to go back to it."

Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said Amy's three-week break from heroin would have lowered her resistance to its effect.

Mr Gardiner added: "It may be that she did appreciate the dangers of lowering her tolerance but she may not have appreciated the strength of the drug she was injecting."

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