He regularly took cocaine and drank heavily to cope with the phantom pain from his amputation, the inquest heard. But on Christmas Eve he was found collapsed in his flat after consuming a cocktail of prescription drugs mixed with milk.

In the hours before his death he had become aggressive and sent 1am texts to his mum Elizabeth Stratton, who had been for lunch with him the day before and last saw him alive at around 9pm the previous evening.

The text messages read: "You want a body, you have got one. It will be a different day tomorrow, I won't be here."

Westminster Coroner's Court heard he was pronounced dead at 6.41pm on Christmas Eve 2016 as a result of respiratory failure due to multi drug poisoning.

Westminster Coroner Dr Radcliffe added: "Most days he would drink and take cocaine. He suffered from alcohol dependency syndrome."

His mother was listed to attend as a witness, but rang up to cancel.

But a statement from her, read to the inquest, said: "Paul was becoming more and more addicted to his pills.