A TEENAGER found his friend dead on his bed after an afternoon of smoking cannabis and watching television turned to tragedy, an inquest heard.

Darren Ferguson, 18, told assistant coroner John Birch that he and his friend Nicky Kevin Moorcroft, 16, had smoked a joint each.

But, unknown to him, Nicky had also been sniffing lighter fuel and glue and the lethal cocktail of propane and butane killed him, the inquest in Blackburn heard.

The hearing was told that Nicky was staying at Darren's home in Stonyhurst Close, Blackburn, and had gone out in the afternoon to collect some money he was owed and buy cannabis.

They smoked it in the bedroom while watching a Snoopy cartoon on TV.

At about 6pm Darren went to make a cup of tea for Nicky. When he returned to the bedroom with tea and biscuits, Nicky was stretched out on the bed.

Darren said: "Nicky was lying flat out and appeared stoned.

"After a minute I noticed some phlegm coming out of his mouth and he lay there not moving. I didn't know what to do."

Darren ran to the Stonyhurst pub and alerted his father and Nicky's dad.

Ambulance staff tried in vain to revive Nicky but failed. He was pronounced dead at Blackburn Infirmary.

PC David Wilson searched the flat after Nicky's death and found two butane gas canisters and an aerosol spray.

Mrs Moorcroft said she knew Nicky smoked cannabis because he had once come to the house with glazed eyes and told her he had had "a blow," which she knew to be cannabis.

Home Office pathologist Dr William Lawler said death was caused by the toxic effects of inhaling butane and propane.

Lethal amounts of both substances were found in Nicky's blood and tests showed he had also taken cannabis.

Mr Birch recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.