A COCKTAIL of drugs may have caused delusions that led to a man jumping into a canal and drowning, a coroner has said.

Mohammed Amar Pervez, 29, of Lansdowne Road, Worcester, died after falling into the canal in the city on Tuesday, March 7.

The married man was with his girlfriend on the night of his death – but ran away from her after suffering from paranoia.

An eyewitness later saw him by Rainbow Hill canal bridge, in Worcester, and said he was in his underpants and shouting.

A passer-by then spotted his body in the canal at Spring Lane, near Worcester Shrub Hill railway station, later that morning.

An inquest into his death heard that a forensic pathologist found a mixture of cocaine, alcohol and citalopram - an antidepressant - in Mr Pervez's body.

But Worcestershire coroner Geraint Williams said there was no physical evidence of how Mr Pervez came to be in the canal.

Tayla Jane Wise, Mr Pervez's girlfriend, told the inquest: "I've known him for six or seven years. I was in a relationship with him.

"On Monday [the night before his death]... he messaged me. He asked me to come out.

"He was in his friend's car. They were driving around the streets."

Mr Pervez, his friend and Ms Wise drove to a hotel room in Worcester city centre.

"They had a bottle of vodka and had a couple of glasses of that," she said.

"I had one cup with him and then said I don't want anymore."

Ms Wise said they then went out in the car again and returned at about midnight, at which point the friend left.

She said Mr Pervez started to complain about hearing voices when they left the hotel shortly afterwards.

"He kept sweating, looking around and not really saying anything – just saying he could hear things.

"He kept saying someone was after him. Then he calmed down a little."

Ms Wise said she had not seen Mr Pervez take cocaine that night – but his behaviour was similar to when he had used it previously.

She said at one point a van driver drove past and stared at them.

"He said he had to go and started running down the street. I got to the top of the bridge at Lowesmoor canal and he was just stood there and said he was scared," she added.

"He told me to go, he took his top off and threw it over the wall and then ran. This was at about 2.30am."

Dean Taylor, an eyewitness, said he saw a man by the canal with nothing on but white underpants at about 4.15am in the morning.

"I asked him if he was okay as it was so cold – I was wearing gloves – and he shouted something back but I didn't understand him," Mr Taylor said.

Max Kelsy later spotted Mr Pervez's body in the canal while on his way to work and rang the emergency services at about 7.26am.

Worcestershire Coroner, Geraint Williams, delivered an open verdict but stated that Mr Pervez had not died of a medical emergency or natural disease.

He said: "I don't have any evidence of how he physically came into the canal. He may – due to the cocaine – in some delusion have jumped into the canal. He could have slipped and fell. "

The inquest took place at Worcestershire Coroner's Court, in Stourport, on Monday, June 19.