THE son of a former Gwent detective died of taking heroin just days after seeing his father who refused to believe he was taking drugs.

Newport coroner's court heard the body of Dafydd Llewellyn Jones, 24, was found at a friend's home in Station Road, Abergavenny, last December.

A post mortem examination revealed he had died as a result of heroin and alcohol, following a night out in Abergavenny.

Gwent coroner David Bowen heard a statement from Mr Jones' father, Ieuan Jones, a former Gwent police detective inspector, of Llanwenarth Citra near Abergavenny. In it, he told the inquest how on December 8 he had clashed with his son over the lifestyle he was living.

"My son was living in the Cardiff area with a couple of friends. On the Friday we had a dispute over his lifestyle.

"He said he had been taking heroin for some time. I asked him if he was injecting heroin and he said he did.

"I did not believe him because he looked so fit and well and he had an aversion to needles."

Two days later he was dead. "That was the last day I saw him and on Sunday, I formally identified him at Nevill Hall Hospital."

In a written statement, Detective Inspector Michael Jones, based at Pontypool, said police inquiries revealed on the Saturday before his death, Mr Jones and a friend were in the Great George Hotel, Abergavenny. A witness remembered Mr Jones was "unsteady on his feet and unco-ordinated".

A statement from the friend who discovered Mr Jones' body, said the pair had smoked cannabis and drank alcohol. Mr Jones had "a small quantity of heroin" and returning to his house they both intended to take the drug.

After unsuccessfully trying to inject the drug he left Mr Jones in the house and went to buy more. Detective Inspector Jones said: "When he returned he said Dafydd was slumped over a chair and his lips were blue."

Returning a verdict of misadventure, the coroner said Mr Jones' death was a "tragic mishap from a man who was pursuing the very dubious pleasure derived from drugs."

*PICTURED: The house in Station Road, the scene of the tragedy.