A FORMER engineer with a tragic background died from a heroin overdose.
Daniel Walker, 37, of Harley Street, Brighouse died on May 5 after drinking over two-and-a-half times the legal driving limit of alcohol and injecting himself with a fatal dose of heroin, Halifax Coroner’s Court was told yesterday.
Mr Walker, an unemployed engineer, was found dead at home with a syringe in his hand by police.
The court said Mr Walker – who had been badly distressed after his brother committed suicide – would have died almost instantly after injecting the drug.
Divorced Mr Walker – known as Danny – had taken an apprenticeship with British Aerospace before falling into drug abuse.
He later took up a job as a tree surgeon and then worked on a fruit orchard.
In a letter to the inquest, his father, Colin Walker, said his son – who had a keen interest in nature and outdoor pursuits – enjoyed both jobs.
But his father said his son had been badly affected when Daniel’s brother took his own life.
While he had become clean of drugs, alcohol had taken over, the inquest heard.
Mr Walker’s father had got his son a canal boat which Daniel had enjoyed using for three years.
But, the inquest heard, alcohol had increasingly taken over Daniel’s life and he had lost his canal boat licence.
Drugs had also taken hold, the court heard.
“He was very knowledgeable but drugs were his weakness,” his father told the court in a letter.
Recording a verdict of death due to heroin toxicity, Coroner Roger Whittaker said: “I am satisfied he was addicted to heroin so my final conclusion was he died of a dependant abuse of drugs.”
