THE death of a talented and adored son and brother was “most likely” related to drug use, an inquest heard.

Chelmsford Coroner’s Court heard Rory Wai, from Wivenhoe, was found dead in his bed by his brother, William, on the evening of August 6 last year.

William had last seen him alive at around 4pm, but when he ventured upstairs to his room later that evening to ask if he wanted any dinner, he found his brother lying face down and unresponsive.

Pathologist Dr Shaobin Wu said a post-mortem showed damage to Rory’s lungs, while his kidneys had symptoms of acute renal failure.

Dr Wu told the court although the cause of death was “unascertained”, it was “most likely” related to drug use.

She listed the use of nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas, as a possible factor in such cases of sudden death, but added “I cannot give a definite cause of death.”

Senior coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said: “I have given this careful consideration and the evidence Dr Wu has given is that the cause of death is unascertained.

“But from her evidence it was more likely than not Rory’s death was drug related.

“I am going to record that he died as a result of an accident, that he took a deliberate action that had an untoward result and outcome.

“He was clearly much-loved by his brothers.

“It must have been horrendous for William to find him."

Read more: Family's tribute to kind-hearted Rory

Addressing Rory's mother, Mrs Beasley-Murray said: "You do outline the devastating effect on the whole family and say 'a huge gap has been left in all our lives which will never be filled and we keep expecting him to walk through the door at any moment.'

“Not only have you lost him, you have had the ordeal of sitting through this inquest this morning and you have done that with the upmost dignity.”