A MUM found her son unresponsive in his room hours after his sister had a 'gut feeling' something wasn't right.

Simon Pratley died at his home in Wallingford on June 4 last year.

The 37-year-old had taken a mix of medication and alcohol hours before he smoked a toxic dose of heroin with his friend Alan Lobb.

In a statement read out at Mr Pratley's inquest at Oxford Coroners Court yesterday morning, Mr Lobb described how he had visited the IT business owner twice at his home that fateful day – the first time going to Londis and running some errands for Mr Pratley, the second time returning with his dog and a stash of heroin.

Reminder - here is what we can and can't report from court. 

He said the pair had 'smoked about £10 worth' of the Class A drug together 'out of choice'.

He said: "I had heroin with me and I passed some to him, it was his decision to smoke it. We smoked about £10 worth in tin foil.

"He wanted to smoke more but I persuaded him to put it in a drawer."

Read more: Oxford University student died after attempts to take his own life

He said when he arrived hours before he told his friend ' your face is all the colours of the rainbow' and remembered saying 'it looks like your liver hates you'.

Mr Pratley had a well recorded dependency on alcohol, after he was stabbed in 2004 and 2008 – but had not taken drugs regularly.

Mr Lobb added that he was 'private' about his alcoholism, but when he drank usually downed 'litres and litres' of spirits.

That evening unemployed Mr Lobb said it started 'getting a bit mental in Simon's room' so he left with his dog, lifting Mr Pratley onto his bed as he was too high to move.

In another statement read to the court, Mr Pratley's sister Zena said that she had spoken on the phone with him earlier that evening and he seemed happy and like the 'old Simon'.

She added: "At 7.36pm I called my mum, I had a gut feeling."

Their mother, Karen Schoolbridge checked on him when she was on the phone and he appeared fine.

But when she went back upstairs at 8.45pm she dialled 999 because ‘it looked like he had passed away’.

Read again: man hit by Parcel Force lorry on A4260

Within minutes police had arrived and called for an ambulance crew who turned up in 60 seconds.

Forty-five minutes later after multiple life saving attempts Mr Pratley was pronounced dead.

The official cause of death was multiple drug toxicity with underlying fatty liver disease.

Darren Salter, the head coroner, said his conclusion was a drug and alcohol related death.

His mum asked the coroner if it could be marked as ‘misadventure’ but he explained: “Misadventure is commonly used when it is an accident. I am sorry but the combined use of the alcohol and drugs that really is the only conclusion I can come to. He had a lot of support particularly from his mother and it is a very sad case.”

He added it might not have been obvious to Mr Lobb that Mr Pratley ‘wasn’t okay’.