A MUSICIAN who fought drug addiction and wrote a song about the evils of heroin, died after injecting himself with a fatal dose, an inquest heard.

Harry Washburn, 33, manager of Accrington band Leash, died three days before the Sounds '96 pop concert in Oakhill Park, Accrington.

The inquest was told he collapsed at his home in Melbourne Street, Clayton-le-Moors, but refused hospital treatment after being revived by ambulancemen.

Eight hours later, fellow band member Quentin 'Q' Hodge, who had been keeping an eye on him, realised he had stopped breathing and called emergency services.

Both he and paramedics tried to revive Harry but the band manager and guitarist was dead on arrival at hospital.

Mr Hodge, a computer network support officer, of St Hubert Street, Great Harwood, told the inquest the band had met in South Africa.

He said Australian-born Harry,real name Anthony John Patrick Harris, revealed that he had taken heroin but had beaten the habit and written a song about it. He said the band came to settle in Accrington, home of the lead singer.

Harry, who took his stage name from a Washburn guitar which he had won, got a job as a caretaker at Hollins School, using an assumed name and identity because of work permit problems.

Mr Hodge told coroner Andre Rebello the band manager walked into the living room of the house at 8.30pm looking very erratic, unable to speak, and collapsed on the settee.

Paramedics called to the house asked if he had been taking heroin and Mr Hodge said he searched Harry's room and found a syringe.

He added: "We were all very shocked. I hadn't known him take heroin before. To my knowledge it was the first time he had taken it."

Amanda Karius, now living in London, who also shared the Clayton-le-Moors house, said Harry had been involved with heroin and was proud of the song he had written about the evils of the drug.

Mr Rebello, coroner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, put the cause of death down to abuse of heroin and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: "Because of the law I can't treat this as an unlawful killing. But whoever supplied the heroin to him was negligent or criminal enough to supply this evil substance to this man.

"The person should know the fatal consequences.

"He did this himself. He knew the dangers of heroin and still took it.

"The tragedy is that Mr Harris had defeated heroin once in his life and he was again seduced into taking this evil substance with fatal consequences."

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