A devastated woman found her husband dead on the bed at their home in Stokenchurch, an inquest heard this week. 

Joseph John Campbell was found unresponsive by his wife on September 23 last year. He had suffered with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive lung disease. 

South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) was called to Mr Campbell’s home in Malet Close at around 10am following reports of a man suffering cardiac arrest. 

Although a neighbour tried to save his life by performing CPR, the 42-year-old, who was born in Gibraltar and had a history of heroin use, was pronounced dead at 11.26am. 

A post-mortem discovered a number of drugs in his system including morphine, methadone and codeine and the cause of death was a lung infection in the context of COPD, Venlafaxine – an anti-depressant – toxicity and opioid effect as well as an upper gastro-intestinal haemorrhage. 

An inquest into Mr Campbell’s death, which was heard on Tuesday (January 16) recorded a narrative verdict. 

Crispin Butler, senior coroner for Bucks, said: “Mr Campbell was last seen alive at around 7.15am that morning. 

“He was found unresponsive at around 10am. He was confirmed dead by paramedics at around 11.30am. 

“He died as a result of natural diseases and drugs.”