A FORMER soldier who battled for years with drug addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was found dead at his home by a friend, an inquest heard. 

David Anthony Graham, 46, was discovered by a long-term friend who was visiting him at his home on Derwentwater Road in Whitehaven on May 26, 2023. 

In a statement submitted to Cockermouth Coroner’s Court by Mr Graham’s friend, Daniel, he said he had decided to visit him with his wife on May 26 at around 5.40pm, as he had seen him the previous evening and reported him as ‘being worse for wear’.

When he did not answer the door after ringing the bell ‘a few times’, they found the door open, and Mr Graham unresponsive on the floor, at which point they called 999. 

Police searched the premises and found syringes. 

A statement submitted by one of Mr Graham's three younger brothers, Tony, described Mr Graham as ‘a good lad, a good brother, and a good son’. 

His brother said they grew up in Whitehaven, and Mr Graham left school at 15 before joining the army at 19, enlisting in the King’s Own Regiment. 

He completed tours of duty in Northern Ireland and Cyprus, serving in the army for three years, but ‘when he returned to Whitehaven, he found drugs’. 

Starting with cannabis and cocaine, his brother said Mr Graham became a ‘heavy heroin user’, and he served four prison sentences. 

He said he would often have 12 months at a time ‘off the gear’, during which time ‘he was one the best ceiling fixers I’ve ever worked with’. 

He said: “When he was good, he was really good, but when the drugs took over, he couldn’t kick the habit.” 

Mr Graham regularly engaged with mental health services, for PTSD, addiction, anxiety and panic disorder. 

He was referred to the veteran support service in 2022 but said he ‘found it difficult meeting new people and found it difficult bringing up things from the past’. 

Assistant Coroner for Cumbria Ms Margaret Taylor heard that a toxicology report showed potentially fatal levels of morphine in Mr Taylor’s system. 

She concluded that Mr Graham’s death was as a consequence of a morphine overdose.