A model student died after suffering a sudden epileptic fit, an inquest heard.

Irfan Alyas, 23, a teetotaller with no recorded medical problems, was found in his bedroom on Monday, September 14, last year.

The inquest at Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court heard the Oxford and Cherwell Valley College accountancy student was foaming at the mouth and had died from a fit hours earlier.

His father Mohammed Alyas told the inquest no member of his family had ever suffered from epilepsy.

The family had retired to bed after eating after nightfall while observing Ramadan at their Warwick Street home in Oxford.

Nobody went to wake Irfan the next morning, and it was after 3pm when paramedics were called to the house.

Consultant pathologist Dr Sanjiv Manek said Mr Alyas appeared healthy while toxicology samples showed he had not taken alcohol or drugs.

Dr Manek said: “I have seen four or five cases where the first presentation of epilepsy has been a fatal presentation.

“The main signs were of that.”

He told Mr Alyas that while first aid might have saved his son, the time of death was unknown because he had been sleeping alone in his bedroom.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of death from natural causes.

After the inquest Mr Alyas said: “He was 100 per cent reliable. He was a very special child, and we relied so much on him.”