A YOUNG father who died after his first injection of heroin could have been saved if his friends had called an ambulance, an inquest heard yesterday.

Paul Mann, of Keir Hardie Crescent, South Bank, Middlesbrough, took a cocktail of drink and drugs on October 12, 1999, and slipped into a coma.

He was taken by two friends, Brian Venis and Alec Jones, to a flat to recover, but was found dead the next morning.

Teesside Coroner's Court heard conflicting evidence on Thursday about which of the friends delivered the fatal heroin injection.

Alec Jones, of Queen Street, South Bank, was arrested the day after Mr Mann's death, on suspicion of administering a noxious substance, but was never charged because two key witnesses - both heroin addicts - retracted statements they had made to police.

Yesterday, Home Office pathologist James Sunter told the court that 29-year-old Mr Mann - a father of one - was a "healthy young man" who showed no signs of having previously injected heroin and was unlikely to have injected himself.

He said a combination of heroin, alcohol and diazepam killed Mr Mann.

Cocaine and painkillers were also found in his system.

"It may be that the deceased has been particularly vulnerable to the effects (of heroin), owing to the fact that he was unaccustomed to intravenous use," he said.

"It's likely that had the deceased been offered medical treatment he would have survived."

Teesside coroner Michael Sheffield recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

He said he was satisfied that Mr Mann had asked to be injected with heroin and that Mr Jones did not call an ambulance because he himself was affected by drink and drugs.

"I'm also satisfied that the person who did inject him did not intend the tragic outcome," he said.

After the inquest, Mr Mann's father, James, 58, of Passfield Crescent, South Bank, said he still felt in the dark about his son's death.

"We still don't know who injected him.

"What hurts me most of all was when the pathologist said if he'd have been taken to hospital his life could have been saved."