A WOMAN left her dead boyfriend on a sofa for several hours after his death as she believed he was sleeping off the effects of a night of drink and drugs.

Charles Hazeldine had spent the previous evening drinking cider and taking cocaine with his girlfriend Gemma Grout at her home.

Ms Grout left the electrician on the sofa until about 1.30pm as she believed he was sleeping off the night before.

She went to revive him but his lips were blue, and medics discovered that he had been dead for several hours.

His family released a statement which says: "Charlie was an amazing brother and son.

"He was loved by everyone he met and was a very well respected gentlemen in the Meon Valley area.

"He had a very successful landscaping and gardening company and had just fully qualified to become an electrician which made him well known around the area as a lovable giant as he was 6 foot 8.

"He had a great love for all animals and nature and had a dog he loved and a very impressive tropical fish tank.

"He was soft and kind and would help anyone he could. Charlie's popularity was proven at the high numbers of attendees at Charlie's funeral.

"It is a true waste of life. Charlie will be greatly missed by all his family and friends."

A coroner at Winchester Coroner's Court heard that at just before midnight on January 20 the 33 year-old had gone out for a short time to buy more cocaine.

She said: "I tried to stop him doing more drugs.

"I heard him swaying in the toilet while he did it. He said he was doing it to wind me up."

Mr Hazeldine then fell asleep on the sofa in the lounge.

The next morning Ms Grout left the electrician on the sofa until about 1.30pm as she believed he was sleeping off the night before.

She said: "I made him a bacon sandwich and went to wake him. I called but he didn't respond."

"Then when I went to kiss him I saw that his lips were blue"

Ms. Grout then called an ambulance but when paramedics attempted to revive Mr Hazeldine they found he had been dead for several hours.

PC Andrew Venning who attended the scene said that he had found drug paraphernalia in Mr Hazeline's trouser pocket.

Mr Hazeldine, of Beaucroft Road, Waltham Chase, had a history of recreational cocaine use and had previously confessed to his brother Jack Hazeldine that he had been regularly taking the drug.

"He told me he had stopped." He said.

Pahthologist Dr Balvinder Shoker, who carried out the post mortem, said that he did not find any natural cause of death, but that Mr Hazeldine's heart had been enlarged.

A toxicology report from Peter Streete found cocaine in Mr Hazeldine's blood at recreational levels.

Dr Shoker concluded that he could not find any definitive cause of death but that cocaine was the most likely cause.

Senior Coroner Grahame Short said: "We do not know the precise time of his death, but I am satisfied that his death was due to drug toxicity."

Mr Short concluded that Mr Hazeldine's death was drug related.