Sixteen-year-old Nathan Cox is the latest victim of the drugs crisis gripping Oxfordshire.

The student was found dead at a house in Abingdon at the weekend after a suspected overdose.

Today, his distraught father Francis said he knew Nathan had smoked cannabis and added: "Perhaps if I knew more about drugs I might have noticed something. I have done some daft things in my life, but I've never done drugs."

Police were called to a house in Preston Road at 6.30am on Saturday.

Officers are now awaiting a toxicology report following a post-mortem examination.

A spokesman confirmed Nathan's death was thought to be drugs-related. A 20-year-old man arrested at the scene has been released on police bail. Lorry driver Francis, 42, said: "He was just such a happy boy. He had loads of friends and no-one had a bad word to say about him. He was healthy and a top lad.''

Nathan, who was on a media studies and IT course at Abingdon College, had moved in with his dad in Kingston Bagpuize last summer.

Before that he lived with his mother and sister in Ipswich, Suffolk, following his parents' divorce.

His death comes as the spotlight falls on Thames Valley Police's crime-fighting strategy.

Drug-dealing and drug-related crime are priority areas but figures in a new report show a rise in the number of heroin-related arrests. Although there were fewer seizures than in the previous year, more drugs - including Ecstasy and cannabis - were found. Police authority member Cllr Douglas Spencer said officers were being forced to fight crime with "one arm tied behind their backs''.

He said new procedures introduced nationally after the inquiry into the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence meant police were more reluctant to stop and search suspects.

He said: "Stop-and-search is one of the most effective ways of tackling the possession of drugs and drug-dealing. We are tying a police officer's arm behind his back in the course of his duty and it is extremely worrying."

Story date: Tuesday 21 March

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