A 40-year-old man with a long history of substance misuse and mental health problems was found dead in his Penrith flat.

Joseph Francis Ball was last seen alive on May 31, 2021.

Police broke into his Southend Road flat on June 8 after a neighbour complained about the smell and his brother, Matthew Ball, had been unable to make contact with him.

At an inquest in Cockermouth on Thursday assistant coroner Margaret Taylor concluded that his death was drug related.

She heard that Mr Ball had a loving family and was in regular contact with his mother, Anne Marie Baxter, who lived in Portugal, his brother, Matthew Ball, and sister-in-law Melanie Ball, who lived in Lancaster.

They all struggled with not being able to see each other as a result of the pandemic and reckon Mr Ball's mental health situation was compounded by being isolated.

Ms Taylor said: "I'm hearing this time and time again, people may have been struggling and Covid has pushed them over the edge."

The inquest heard Mr Ball had been taking illegal substances since the age of 13 and struggled with his mental health.

He was admitted to hospital for assessment and treatment in 2011, 2013, 2018 and 2019.

He was initially diagnosed with psychosis, this was later changed to paranoid schizophrenia.

Over the years he took a range of illicit drugs, including amphetamines, heroine, cocaine and cannabis.

Mr Ball had a successful period in rehabilitation with Turning Point in Workington. But he was then placed in a flat in Penrith, where he had easy access to drugs and returned to taking them again.

At the time of his death Mr Ball was under the care of a community mental health team social worker, a psychiatrist and Unity, a drug and alcohol recovery service.

His mother, Anne Marie Baxter, said he found his social worker "very supportive".

A post mortem concluded Joseph died of "heroin toxicity".

Ms Taylor said: "Joseph had a long history of substance misuse and mental health problems and died as a consequence of heroin toxicity."

Matthew Ball told the inquest his brother was born in Lancaster but left home at 17 and moved to Morecambe. He had joined the Army aged 16 but had not lasted long.

"He had a mental breakdown after this," he said.

He was taking a mixture of prescribed and street-bought drugs which he hoped would help with his mental health issues, he said.

"He was a very intelligent person and really good at talking to people. He didn't want to live by the social norms and was a free spirit," said Matthew Ball.

"He was charming and stubborn and could be lead by others."

Ms Taylor said: "It's fundamentally clear that Joseph was much loved as a son, brother, brother-in-law and stepson. The fact you have all come so far speaks volumes.

"He was a free spirit, someone who was going to do what he wanted.

"He was a bit of a troubled teenager. He started taking drugs. Once you have become involved in drugs it's very easy to move up, which is what he was doing.

"He had mental health problems, we're not sure if it was drug induced.

"Was he taking drugs because he was a young lad and that's what his friends were doing or was he suffering at an early stage?

"Whatever, it was not helping and he was spiralling down.

"He wanted to get better and went through tough parts when he was abstinent.

"He did well in rehabilitation but was then living somewhere he could get easy access to drugs.

"The real tragedy is there was someone who had potential but took drugs that have caused his death.

"You cared for him and desperately hoped he would get back on the straight and narrow. He clearly knew you were there for him."