Nathan Dennett, 29, pictured, mixed a powdered form of Ecstasy with alcohol and was found dead in bead later that morning
A bank clerk who stayed in and rarely drank died from an Ecstasy overdose after he was introduced to the drug while studying at university, an inquest heard.
Nathan Dennett, 29, had enrolled on a history degree but subsequently dropped out.
Last July 23, after a night out in Liverpool Mr Dennett mixed a powdered form of the drug with alcohol before going out for an early hours walk with his cousin.
He later had to be carried home after he uncharacteristically became disorientated and threw away his shoes and wallet.
Mr Dennett was found dead in bed later that morning by his cousin who had placed him in the recovery position due to fears about his condition and then stayed over.
Tests showed he had taken ‘excessive’ amounts of MDMA and showed a reading of up to six times the minimum level for a suspected overdose.
The hearing was told Mr Dennett, from Runcorn, Cheshire had excelled at general knowledge and sport and began studying history at Liverpool John Moores University.
But he failed to finish the course and lived with his grandfather before moving into a garage conversion at his family home.
His mother Karen Dennett, 52, told the Warrington inquest: ‘Nathan was very good at history, very good at general knowledge. He could converse with anyone about anything.
‘Although he didn’t finish his college course he intended to go back – he couldn’t get himself up in the morning, he was a night owl.
‘When he came to live with me, I converted the garage for him and that gave him his own front door to come in and out as he pleased.
The hearing was told Mr Dennett, from Runcorn, Cheshire had excelled at general knowledge and sport and began studying history at Liverpool John Moores University. But he failed to finish the course and lived with his grandfather before moving into a garage conversion
‘Nathan didn’t go out a lot and rarely drank. He was sporty and liked to watch football.
‘He was good at computer games and because if that he was able to converse with people all over the world. He played online that was what I believe was his way of socialising.
‘He was good with his money, he didn’t have any loans or credit cards and saved to buy what he wanted. He was stubborn, you couldn’t make him do anything he didn’t want to.
‘I believe from what I heard that Nathan mixed his drinks that evening. He would drink anything they had and I believe that would have affected him because he was not used to drinking so much.
‘I also believe he took MDMA that evening and I believe he had done MDMA two or three times.’
Mr Dennett’s cousin Craig Horobin, said: ‘We went to Liverpool, we got the train and we were out all night drinking in different places before getting the train home.
‘We had gone into the town, met up with some guy and then we walked down the canal to my house where I changed from shoes to trainers then we walked to Nathan’s and put some MDMA in bottles of drink.
‘We went back out and drank it. We walked around the area where he lives and he was doing stupid things like taking his shoes off and throwing his shoes and wallet.
‘I was running around grabbing his stuff. He was behaving out of character. He was being silly and laughing about it.
Forensic reports showed bank clerk Mr Dennett, who is pictured with his mother Karen, had MDMA levels in his blood of at 3.5 microgrammes with the range of an overdose being between 0.6 and 3.7mg
‘I didn’t manage to get his other shoe but got most of his other stuff. We started walking back and he hurt his foot so I carried him and he kept saying his leg was hurting.
‘He started walking again and just kept falling to the ground saying his leg was hurting.
‘I carried him the rest of the way. He was heavy. We got in the house and it was raining. I undressed him, put him into bed and because we had been drinking I thought it would be best to put him on his side. I got in at the bottom of the bed and I woke up and he was blue.
‘He was drinking a lot in Liverpool. He didn’t tell me he took anything there. He took the MDMA once we got back to the house and got drinks and stuff.. We took it while we were walking around Runcorn.
‘I had only taken it with him a couple of times. He had a bit of a period in university where the lads had certain things – he was introduced to it at university.
‘When I woke up. I noticed he was blue and raised the alarm I took Nathan out of bed and carried out CPR on him and did that quite forcibly and there was no response. I tried to open his mouth and I couldn’t.
‘Nathan had been taking the MDMA in powder form and putting it into his drinks.’
Forensic reports showed Mr Dennett had MDMA levels in his blood of at 3.5 microgrammes with the range of an overdose being between 0.6 and 3.7mg.
Toxicologist Christopher Madden said: ‘He had alcohol reading consistent with consumption prior to death however it was a low concentration and that would not be notable with intoxication in a normal social drinker.
‘The MDMA concentration demonstrates the use of ecstasy at some time prior to sampling.
‘A concentration of 0.3 is typical in recreational users but can be higher in chronic users. In a suspected overdose the range is between 0.6 and 3.7microgrammes. Here the MDMA concentration is excessive. That could result in serious toxic effects.
Mr Dennett was found dead in bed by his cousin who had placed him in the recovery position due to fears about his condition and then stayed over
‘MDMA can cause symptoms such as visual hallucination, bizarre behaviour, agitation and sweating.’
PC Stuart Hutchinson of Cheshire Police said officers had been called out to another fatal Ecstasy overdose that same day but the tragedies were not linked.
Recording a conclusion of drug related death Cheshire assistant coroner, Jean Harkin, said: ‘It’s clear Nathan took MDMA, also known as ecstasy, and took it to excess. The amount found in the blood and urine samples were sufficient amounts to cause death and they were very high amounts.
‘We heard from Craig Horobin that Nathan was acting out of character prior to his death.
‘Craig stayed with his cousin, put him to bed, made sure he was placed in a recovery position in case he choked because he had consumed alcohol and MDMA.
‘The toxicology tests didn’t reveal high amounts of alcohol but we have heard the MDMA was in powder form and put in alcoholic drinks and it may have been that these drinks were weaker.
‘Nevertheless there was excessive MDMA consumption. I offer sincere condolences to the family and friends of Nathan.’