A 'TROUBLED young man' died from a drug overdose hours after being reported missing from Wycombe Hospital, an inquest heard.

Matthew Weiss was taken to the hospital after making numerous tearful calls on the emergency telephone outside Wycombe police station saying his life "wasn't worth living".

But he was under no obligation to stay and be seen to by medics after taking large quantites of heroin - so he walked out of hospital and went off to take another, fatal, drug dose.

The 22-year-old was taken to the hospital in the early hours of Sunday May 29 by PC Andrew Hall, who stayed with him until the end of his shift.

He was then relieved by PC Kim Twaite after hospital staff requested police remain with him while someone from the Crisis drugs team arrived to assess Mr Weiss.

However she was called away to reports of a stabbing - and a couple of hours later Mr Weiss was reported missing from the hospital, with the Crisis team having still not seen to him.

He died in his sleep the next night at an acquaintance's flat in West Wycombe Road having consumed a large quantity of drugs.

A post mortem found traces of ethanol, diazepam and methadone in his blood, along with the anti-depressant tramadol and opiates believed to have derived from heroin.

The inquest heard Mr Weiss was attending the hospital voluntarily and staff could not force him to stay unless he had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Weiss was described in the inquest as a "troubled young man" who suffered from OCD and learning difficulties, and had been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome at the age of 13.

This wasn't enough to classify him as suffering from mental health problems under the terms of the Mental Health Act however, meaning he was under no obligation to seek treatment or stay in hospital.

At the time of his death Mr Weiss was of no fixed address after his parents took the "very difficult decision" to exclude him from the family home in Bells Hill, Stoke Poges, after he became aggressive and abusive towards them.

His father Nicholas told the inquest: "Ironically the only way we thought we might get him on some compulsory programme was through the criminal justice system."

Coroner Richard Hulett recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. He ruled out the possibility of suicide after hearing Mr Weiss frequently made threats to kill himself.