A YOUNG man from Worcester died after snorting a legal high seven-and-a-half times more potent than morphine.

Although a number of other drugs were found in his system, an inquest found that Sam Dillingham, aged 27, of Britannia Square, died as a direct consequence of ingesting a legal high known as U-47700.

Friends with him at the time recalled how Mr Dillingham began to sweat and said his eyes 'rolled back into his head' after snorting the so-called 'legal high'.

The inquest, at Worcestershire Coroner's Court, heard that Mr Dillingham was at home taking drugs with friends on the evening of Tuesday, January 26, when he snorted the legal high.

Jack Lowe, one of those with him, said: "I noticed him snorting this yellowy powdery stuff. He did a little line, but then he did a bigger one.

"He started sweating a lot. I saw his eyes roll into the back of his head. Then he started snoring, like a weird snore."

Mr Dillingham was put into the recovery position and his friends went upstairs, occasionally checking on him during the night.

But the following morning they came downstairs to find their friend lying dead in the front room.

The court heard none of the three friends called an ambulance, despite knowing Mr Dillingham had died.

Mr Lowe said: "It spooked me out really bad because I have never seen a dead body in my life. I remember going to my support worker and telling her my mate has gone over."

James Leake, who was also there, said: "I didn’t know what to do. At the time we had been up for ages and we were just freaked out. I knew he was dead. We had been up for days on speed."

Karen Noak, a support worker with charity NACRO, called an ambulance after Mr Lowe told her later that day that his friend had "gone over" - meaning he had overdosed.

Paramedics and police attended the property and Detective Constable Karl High described the scene as "a drugs den", with "a lot of remnants of white powder" on various items in the room.

He said: "It was quite a dire scene, lots of detritus everywhere, very, very messy. Just a drugs den if you like."

The inquest heard that Mr Dillingham is only the second person in Europe known to have died from taking the drug.

In his conclusion, Worcestershire Coroner Geraint Williams said the evidence he had heard from the witnesses was "far from satisfactory".

He said: "Each of the individuals have freely admitted to me that on the day and morning after of Mr Dillingham's death, they were all under the influence of drugs to a greater or lesser extent.

"That said, there is one consistent theme throughout the evidence and it is physically what happened on the evening.

"The four friends, Leake, Lowe, Nugent and Mr Dillingham were all taking drugs and that Mr Dillingham produced drugs of his own and voluntarily snorted them."

He added: "(The following morning) none of the three tried to call the emergency services and each of them indicated they had panicked and freaked out.

"Mr Dillingham ingested a legal high and died as a direct consequence."

He recorded a verdict of death as the result of abuse of drugs.

Following his death, friends left a flood of tributes to their "legend" friend on Mr Dillingham's Facebook page.

Laura Thomasson posted: "Rip my love and prays are with your family xxxx"

Stacey Jaylea wrote: "Never guna be the same without you being hear love you arn xxxxxx"

Callum Williams said: "rest easy mate, had some good laughs and some memories ill never forget, what a true legend and good mate, gunna miss ya arny".

MOTHER'S QUESTIONS

THE devastated mother of 27-year-old Sam Dillingham, who died after snorting a legal high, has demanded answers over why her son's death is not being treated as "a criminal offence".

Speaking at her son's inquest, Dawn Bradley voiced her “disbelief" that there was "no interest from the police, that he was supplied this drug".

She said: "He didn’t take that kind of drug so he must have thought it was something else. I do feel like he has been treated like a statistic of drugs. I think that is the sadness of it really. That is the world we live in."

At the inquest, DC Karl High, of West Mercia Police, said there was "no tangible evidence" pointing to where Mr Dillingham had obtained the legal high known as U-47700, a potent synthetic opioid.

He added: "Speaking to Mr Nugent (a friend with Mr Dillingham on the evening) it was apparent Sam had taken the drugs of his own volition. No criminal proceedings were taken."

And Worcestershire Coroner Geraint Williams told her: "This is a legal drug."

Although police and paramedics have repeatedly warned of the dangers of so-called 'legal highs', dozens of the products are readily available under names such as 'Black Mamba' and 'Pandora Reborn'.

Although new powers to crack down on the distribution of legal highs comes into effect today (Thursday), possession for personal use where there is no intention to supply will still not be a criminal offence.

The new powers, which West Mercia Police has pledged to make full use of, will however give officers new rights to stop and search people, vehicles and vessels, enter and search premises in accordance with a warrant and to seize and destroy psychoactive substances.

Detective Chief Inspector Ally Wright said: "The Psychoactive Substances Act, which comes into effect this week, makes it easier to tackle what were previously known as so-called 'legal highs'.

"The effects of these substances can be truly awful. People taking them can never be sure of exactly what they contain, the side effects they could have or what long-term damage they could cause.

"Tragically, in some cases they can prove fatal; robbing a person of their future and leaving loved ones devastated. We would urge people to never even consider taking them.

"We will take action where we find people committing offences under this act. Punishments range from a prohibition notice, which is a formal warning, to seven years in prison.

"Remember giving psychoactive substances to friends could result in supply charges and therefore a prison sentence. By buying these substances off the internet from abroad you are also committing an offence of importation, which carries a custodial sentence."

Steve Brinksman, medical director at Swanswell which runs the drug and alcohol recovery service across Worcestershire, said: "Legal highs can have a devastating impact on a person’s life. While the long term effects aren’t really known, legal highs can cause reduced inhibitions, drowsiness, excited or paranoid states, coma, seizures and, in the worst cases, death.

"There’s still a lot we don’t know about legal highs, not least because new variants are released every week. That’s why we’d like to see the government provide more funding for research into the effects of legal highs.

"This will help us to understand why people take them in the first place and lead to better advice from the government, based on facts and evidence."

For more information about Swanswell visit swanswell.org