A MAN who ‘hated’ heroin died after being injected with a lethal amount of the drug, an inquest has heard.

Terry Hosker’s family told the hearing that they did not believe that the 25-year-old had administered the fatal dose to himself at a neighbour’s flat.

And they hit out at the owner of the property, Christopher Bennett, who was now living in Spain, for failing to attend the inquest to answer their questions.

Mr Bennett’s father, Glenn, said that his son had fled the country after being attacked following Mr Hosker’s death.

But the Hosker family solicitor said Mr Bennett’s son “knew a lot about the death” and he was “protecting him”.

Coroner Richard Taylor recorded an open verdict saying it was impossible to say who had injected the heroin.

Speaking after the hearing Mr Hosker’s mother, Gail, said she was ‘disgusted’ with the outcome and vowed to seek further legal advice.

Mr Hosker, of Warwick Drive, Padiham, was found dead at the flat in January with some unknown pills in his hand and a puncture wound in his arm.

An inquest at Burnley Coroner’s Court was told he had a cocktail of drugs including heroin, diazepam and amphetamines in his system.

Mrs Hosker said: “He would never have taken it [heroin] himself. It’s just not Terry.”

She said they had argued about his involvement in a fight but she had allowed him round to her house on Sunday January 13 for a meal.

At around 9.50pm that evening Mr Hosker left the house and his mother saw him with Christopher Bennett, who she knew was a heroin user.

She said she was shocked to see them together because they were not friends and had nothing in common.

Mrs Hosker said another neighbour, Catherine Hughes, told her she had seen her son with Christopher Bennett at his flat at around 2.45am on Monday January 14.

But Mr Bennett’s father, Glenn, told the hearing his son had arrived at his house at 1.30am that morning because he was locked out and remained there until later that day.

Mr Bennett Snr said he discovered Mr Hosker’s body when he took his son to the flat at around 5.30pm on January 14.

He said his son never returned to the flat following the discovery of Mr Hosker’s body and that he had been living in Spain for the last two-and-a-half months after he encountered “problems” in Padiham.

He added: “He was beat up in Padiham outside a Chinese takeaway and then he was bullied in the Victoria Pub and told to get out of Padiham.”

Hosker family solicitor Graham Parkinson said he had doubts about the validity of Mr Bennett’s version of events on the morning of Mr Hosker’s death.

He said: “I think your son knows a lot about this death and I think you are protecting him. It seems to me something has gone on in that house yet your son is not here to answer what has gone on.”

Nigel Coulthurst, a neighbour of Mr Hosker’s, along with his cousin, Daniel Hosker, and uncle, Ronald Hosker, said Mr Hosker had never taken heroin before and was against the drug.

Speaking on behalf of the Hosker family, Mr Parkinson said: “The family would say they are concerned with the issue of how it [heroin] got into his system. There is a lack of history of heroin misuse and it would appear the one person who could have answered the court’s questions is not here.”