A LIFELONG addict who died in her sleep after a Christmas Eve clothes shopping trip died as a result of ‘combined drug toxicity’.

Lindsey Michelle Southworth died aged 42 at her home address on Watersmead Close in Bolton on Christmas Eve last year, an inquest heard.

The day before her death, Lindsey and boyfriend Anthony Ferne took the train to Cheetham Hill for a shopping trip, Bolton Coroner's Court was told.

The court heard that the pair bought drugs on the way back from the excursion - and consumed them in large quantities at their home where Lindsey died several hours later.

Her partner Anthony confirmed that the pair had been taking drugs that evening.

His stepson Connor Jackson returned to the property shortly after midnight on Christmas Eve - where he found Lindsey lying in the foetal position on her bedroom floor.

At this point, she was still breathing, the inquest heard.

But at some point during the night, she became unresponsive. Paramedics attended the property on Christmas Eve and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her mother Joyce Clarke told the court that Lindsey started taking drugs during her later years at school.

She said: “Lindsey began by sniffing glue then she started using heroin at college.

“She left home aged 17 and never came back. Her life began to spiral out of control.

“I wasn’t surprised because I was expecting something to happen due to her lifestyle and addictive personality.”

The court heard that, two years before her death, she got into a relationship which was ‘chaotic’.

Det Insp Dave Sinclair, of Greater Manchester Police, said there was no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, and no evidence of any third-party interference at the scene.

Toxicologist Julie Walsh found traces of several illegal substances following an analysis of samples - including cocaine, methadone, diazepam and opioids.

Area coroner Alan Walsh, who recorded a conclusion of drug-related death, told the court: “It is yet another example of the dangers of drugs.”