A 44-year-old man found dead in a garage in Oxford died after taking a cocktail of heroin and alcohol, an inquest heard.

John McGuigan, of Parson's Place, Oxford, was declared dead at the John Radcliffe Hospital on July 13 last year, after he was found in a garage off Barracks Lane, Cowley.

Dr Colin Clelland, a consultant pathologist from the John Radcliffe, told the coroner's court that Mr McGuigan's blood alcohol level was more than two-and half-times the legal drink drive limit. A post-mortem examination also found needle marks on both his arms.

Catherine Blundell, of Hill View Road, Oxford, said she had known Mr McGuigan since she started writing to him in prison in May 1998. The court heard that Mr McGuigan was charged with manslaughter after a woman died from a heroin overdose. He was later acquitted and lived with Ms Blundell for brief periods.

She said: "I know he was an alcoholic, but, as far as I know, he never touched heroin while he was in my house. Because of what had happened, he swore he would never touch it again."

Joanne Lloyd, who raised the alarm after finding Mr McGuigan, said in a statement that she had spent the afternoon with him visiting his friends to borrow money.

She waited at the end of an alleyway while Mr McGuigan went to the toilet. When he did not return, she went to look for him and found him dead in a garage.

She went to a neighbouring house to call an ambulance and then ran off.

Ms Lloyd told police: "I did not even know he was a heroin user. He was always having a go at me for taking it."

The deputy coroner, Dorothy Flood, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mrs Flood said: "He was not a consistent and regular user. He may have taken a dose he thought he could tolerate. He also may not have been aware of the extent to which alcohol can exacerbate the effects of heroin."