A MOTHER-of-five suffered an agonising death two weeks after injecting herself with amphetamine using a contaminated needle.

An inquest heard that Christine Mercer went to hospital and was visited at home by doctors on two occasions but never told the medics she was a drug abuser.

Miss Mercer, 28, who had five children, eventually died of blood clotting caused by septicaemia, which had been prompted by intravenous drug abuse.

Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley coroner Michael Singleton said he hoped other drug users might learn a lesson from Miss Mercer's untimely death.

He said: "We all know the risks of drug abuse and we all know the risks of sharing needles with other people. What is not as often thought about are the risks associated with injection when the syringes are in the hands of people who are not skilled or trained in their use.

"I hope that arising out of this death more people think carefully about the abuse of drugs and the method by which they are taken in the hope that someone may be saved from the painful death that Christine Mercer obviously went through." Miss Mercer lived in Rockliffe Street, Blackburn, with her partner Garry Fricker, who was interviewed by police following her death. He told the coroner that he was aware of Miss Mercer's drug habit and when asked if she had self injected or had she been assisted he said she had self injected.

Medical records showed that Miss Mercer went to hospital on November 13 complaining of lower back pain, when she was given pain killers. She had a home visit from a doctor on November 16 at the request of the ambulance service after she complained of being in pain for three days.

She was given a pain killing injection and a prescription.

Miss Mercer received a second visit the following day when she complained of pain going into her right leg.

Miss Mercer died two days later after being admitted to Blackburn Infirmary.

A post mortem examination revealed crystalline material in her arteries and there was evidence of bacteria in the blood.

Mr Singleton recorded a verdict of misadventure.

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