A former soldier from Oxford was found collapsed after becoming depressed following service in Bosnia, a coroner heard yesterday.

Andrew Clark, 20, was discovered beside the River Thames moments after sending his father a text message saying "I love you".

He left the Army after suffering depression. He had spent three years serving in Bosnia, the inquest in Oxford was told.

He was found with an opened bottle of whiskey and a half-empty packet of an over-the-counter painkiller. A post mortem found he had died from a cocaine overdose.

His mother Lucy said he was prescribed medication for depression but never spoke about his time in the Balkans.

A boat-owner, Dorothy Duhig, tried to revive Mr Clark after hearing him shout he was dying, close to the Shillingford Bridge Hotel, near Wallingford.

He was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford, where he died on July 14 last year. He had left to go to his job as an engineer as normal on the morning of his death.

Mrs Clark later discovered a collection of his favourite photos scattered across his bed at their home in Sorrel Road, Blackbird Leys.

Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Dr Richard Whittington adjourned the inquest, so that further tests could be carried out to determine if Mr Clark had taken the painkiller.