THE brother of a man who died of an alcohol and heroin overdose in the toilets of Didcot’s Orchard Centre has told dealers: There is more to life than making 50 quid.

Damian Cox spoke after an inquest recorded a verdict of accidental death to his brother Darren Anderson.

The 40-year-old, of no fixed address, died on October 6.

Mr Cox, 31, said: “I want them to realise there’s more to life than making 50 quid.

“I’ve lost my brother and I want the person who sold him the stuff to be a man, not a coward, and go to the police to hand himself in.

“My brother had a heart of gold and he never lied – what you saw was what you got.”

But Mr Cox said Mr Anderson fell in with the “wrong crowd” and had started taking heroin again, after 20 years of being clean.

He said: “It was a one-off.

“He might have tried it once years and years ago but I know he hadn’t touched it for a long, long time.

“I want people to know he wasn’t addicted to drugs.”

His brother was “fine” when they met two days before his death, he said.

Mr Anderson was found by shopping centre staff, who called police and paramedics. His dog was found with him.

Det Sgt Alun Watkins, who investigated the death, said he had found drug paraphernalia in the cubicle, including needles, a spoon and citric acid.

He said Mr Anderson was a “known drug user” and said there was nothing suspicious about his death. The paramedics attempted to revive Mr Anderson but he was pronounced dead on arrival at the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford.

Consultant pathologist Ben Phillips, who performed the post mortem examination, said: “The toxicology report showed a slightly elevated level of alcohol.

“It also showed evidence of illicit heroin use, at a level consistent with fatalities with people with limited tolerance to the drug.”

He said Mr Anderson may have survived the dose if he had a high tolerance to heroin.

He added: “The cause of death was a heroin and alcohol overdose.”

Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said at Wednesday’s hearing: “It is clear Mr Anderson was a known drug user who chose to inject himself at Didcot, and that this resulted in his death. There is no reason to think this was a deliberate attempt on his life.”