A charity worker who feared returning to prison to

A charity worker who feared returning to prison took a fatal drug overdose after he was charged with drink driving, an inquest heard.

Mark Hugill, 44, was arrested after he crashed his car in Horsham, West Sussex and failed a breathalyser test.

Westminster Coroners Court heard Mr Hugill, who had been jailed before for a similar offence, had not turned up for his first court appearance.

Police could not find the driver when they went to arrest him at the homeless centre in Clapham where he worked.

The hearing was told Mr Hugill had decided to surrender to the court after he learnt on December 12 last year police had issued a warrant for his arrest.

He had taken a late train down from Newark and planned to turn himself in the next day.

But when his girlfriend rang Mr Hugill the following morning at 6am to remind him to go to court there was no response.

A colleague at the hostel in Western Lodge (84) Westside, Clapham, south London then discovered Mr Hugill’s lifeless body in his room.

Post mortem tests revealed Mr Hugill had taken 10 times the safe dose of the powerful painkiller Distalgesic, which contains paracetamol.

His girlfriend, Andrea Atkin, from Lincoln, told how Mr Hugill, who has a history of depression, had asked for an early wake up call on the day of his death.

Miss Atkin said: ‘He said he was going to get up early and go to Horsham.

This was preying on his mind.

‘

She explained that Mr Hugill had been jailed for a similar offence before and he dreaded going back into prison.

Miss Atkin added: ‘I did ask Mark to let somebody know that I was his girlfriend, so I could be contacted if something should happen to him.

‘I was frightened he would be taken into custody.

‘He laughed and said he would change his will,’ she said.

The next day, Friday December 13, Miss Atkin tried to ring her boyfriend’s mobile for nearly an hour but got no reply.

She then tried to call the hostel manager, Jackie Dymond.

‘I was not surprised when Jackie rang back to say what happened.

My first thought was that Mark had wanted to die.

‘He planned Christmas with me.

I don’t know why he planned to commit suicide.

It was just a feeling, I guess.

‘

But the coroner Dr Paul Knapman said he could not be sure that Mr Hugill had wanted to take his life.

Verdict: Open.

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