Man 'did not intend to take his life'

A Kidderminster man who died of a drugs overdose after being allowed to sleep in a police station did not intend to take his own life, a coroner ruled.

Worcestershire Coroner Geraint Williams recorded a narrative verdict on Leon Laga, whose body was found outside Kidderminster police station three years ago.

Mr Williams, concluding a six-day inquest in Stourport-on-Severn, said officers who dealt with the 24-year-old treated him in a "kindly and humane" way and acted in a proper and reasonable manner.

Mr Laga, of Bewdley Hill, was found with a cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other outside the station on the morning of January 15, 2005.

The inquest was told the student, who had a history of self-harm and mental health problems, was given permission to sleep near the front counter of the station.

Recording his verdict, Mr Williams was critical of some aspects of care for Mr Laga from the Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.

He said Mr Laga should have been dealt with under an enhanced level of care and been told what to do or whom to contact in a crisis.