A BODYBUILDER died from an accidental heroin overdose, two months after he was diagnosed HIV positive, an inquest heard yesterday.

Michael Freeman, 34, was found dead in his Kirkstall Close, Toothill flat on June 10 last year, after police officers concerned for his welfare broke in.

Salisbury Coroner’s Court heard Mr Freeman had a history of depression and social anxiety and was in the care of mental health services at the time of his death.

He had started smoking heroin in his youth and was on drugs prescribed by mental health services for withdrawal symptoms. The alarm was raised when Mr Freeman did not go to collect his prescribed drugs.

Drug paraphernalia was found at the scene but no suicide note.

A post mortem confirmed Michael had died of acute opioid toxicity with large amounts of morphine found in his blood.

In her statement, Michael’s heartbroken mother Gillian Freeman said the father-of-two had appeared unwell days before his death.

“When I saw him with his daughter, he didn’t look well, he was very thirsty, drinking lots of water and squash and saying his stomach hurt,” she said.

In April 2015, Mr Freeman had received the devastating news that he was HIV positive. It was heard after his diagnosis and the break-down of a five-year relationship that “things started to go downhill for Michael”.

“All his problems started after he was kicked out of school, before that his attendance was perfect,” Gillian said.

“When he was in prison he took up fitness training, that’s what he wanted to with his life. That’s what he loved.

“He had two daughters and he was a good father to them. He loved those two girls, I don’t think he wanted to die.”

Michael was born in Illinois, USA and adopted by the Freeman family, then living in Chicago. He later moved to the Cotswold Water Park in the mid-1980s before the move to Swindon.

His adoptive father died when he was 12-years-old and “even though it affected him socially, he never showed any outward reaction to his father’s death,” said Gillian.

After a spell in prison, Michael moved into his first council flat in Kirkstall Close.

Clare Widdop, occupational therapist at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, first started seeing Michael in 2012.

“He was very depressed and very anxious. He generally did not really want to be seen, did not want to talk about his difficulties He did have a spell where he abstained from heroin for a period of six months. But he found it too difficult to deal with his feelings. A lot of the time he felt very very unwell, so much so that he couldn’t leave the house,” she said.

“We would communicate via text with Michael, and when he stopped responding we became concerned and contacted Gillian.”

Senior coroner for Swindon and Wiltshire, David Ridley, concluding, said he could not be convinced that Michael had intended to take his own life.

“I don’t think he wanted to die,” he said.

“The only conclusion I can come to is that of a drug-related death.”