A methadone user who died of heart disease spent h

A methadone user who died of heart disease spent her final lonely hours in a squalid room surrounded by the drug equipment that helped kill her, an inquest heard.

Diane Caballero, 32, was found dying amid a collection of needles, spoons and syringes in a Kings Cross hotel.

She was rushed to hospital where she died of an infected heart, brought on by injecting drugs, Westminster Coroner’s Court heard.

The woman had first suffered tragedy at 15 when her father died while she was growing up in south London.

From then on she started mixing with friends that the rest of her family did not approve of, the court was told.

For a couple of years she married and moved to Tenerife but eventually returned after her marriage failed.

Back in England, she fell back into the company of her old drug user friends, the court heard.

She was allocated a room in the European Hotel, Argyle Square, near Kings Cross railway station.

The 32-year-old’s family became worried about her safety after having not heard from her for a while in April this year.

She had spent three weeks being treated for heart disease the previous month, the court heard.

PC Stuart Allen, an officer sent to investigate, said he found her collapsed in her room on 26 April surrounded by drug paraphernalia.

The officer saw a copy of ‘The Methadone User’s handbook’ on a chest of drawers as well as human faeces in a wash basin in her room – number 316 of the hotel.

She was taken to University College Hospital, Middlesex where she later died despite efforts to save her.

Pathologist Dr Vesna Djurovic said her body was riddled with needle marks and there were signs of bacterial infection on her heart valves.

She finally died of bacterial pancarditis – an infection of the heart valves, Miss Djurovic said.

The coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, recorded a verdict of death by natural causes aggravated by non-dependent use of drugs.

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