A MAN has denied supplying the drug that killed his alcoholic Teignmouth friend.

Witnesses alleged that Paul Woods, of Maidenhead, had given Scott Morfield some of the morphine he had been prescribed for chronic back pain.

But Mr Woods maintained at an inquest on Tuesday that Mr Morfield must have taken about 200 milligrammes of the morphine from a bag he kept the pain killers in, while staying with him in his flat in Fourth Avenue for a few days.

The hearing at Bitton House, Teignmouth, was told that Mr Morfield, 38, had been warned by his doctor that he only had about six months to live because of his drinking, and was feeling down.

'Personally, I think he had had enough. He was in pain, and I think he wanted to die. He could not stop drinking,' Mr Woods told the inquest.

South Devon coroner Ian Arrow directly asked Mr Woods, who was on crutches in the witness box, if he had offered his friend any drugs, and cautioned him that he did not have to reply if he thought he might incriminate himself. Mr Woods said he had not offered any drugs.

The police officer in charge of the case, Sgt Neil Coppleman, said witnesses had stated that Mr Woods had slipped Mr Morfield the drug, and he added: 'My opinion is that Mr Woods did give him some morphine, because Mr Morfield was unwell.'

But there was no evidence that Mr Morfield had taken anything against his will.

Mr Morfield, who regularly drank large amounts of cider – up to eight cans a day – was found dead in a car outside his flat at 6am on May 19, 2006.

He had been visiting his girlfriend in Exeter with Mr Woods and his flatmate, Nicholas Tooley, but on returning to Teignmouth, the friends thought he was sleeping off the drink and decided to leave him in the car for the night.

In fact he was dying from the effects of the morphine, which he had probably taken before travelling to Exeter.

They could not rouse him or carry him into the flat and, when they went out to check him in the morning, discovered he was dead.

Home Office pathologist Dr Debbie Cook said tests after a post mortem revealed that death was due to morphine toxicity.

His alcohol level was also twice over the legal drink-drive limit, and although his liver was damaged he was otherwise in reasonable health.

In a written statement, Mr Tooley said he had known Mr Morfield for about ten months and was invited to move into his flat when he was homeless.

When they came back from Exeter late in the evening, Mr Morfield's eyes were half open, but he could not be roused. Mr Tooley said he checked on him at about 3am, and he seemed all right.

'I did not know he had taken drugs, or would have taken him straight to hospital,' Mr Tooley added.

Mr Morfield's girlfriend, Denise Hyman, a mother of seven, said in a statement they had been in a relationship for about 18 months. She did not drink, and tried to help him with his alcoholism.

She insisted he did not take drugs, and thought that he and Mr Tooley, who also drank heavily, were 'not good for each other'.

'Scott drank a lot, but he was never violent, and was a very caring man,' she said.

He did not look well when he arrived at her home with the other two men, and only drank one can of cider.

Mrs Hyman said she was shocked when she heard of Scott's death, and felt angry that he had been left in the car. She also felt guilty for letting him return to Teignmouth that evening.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Arrow said he had taken sufficient morphine to kill him, but did not intend to die. Any suggestion of suicide could be ruled out.