A much-loved Porthleven fisherman died unexpectedly after a day out shopping and drinking with his partner and friends, an inquest has heard.

There was an outpouring of grief following the death of Daniel 'Danny' Richards aged 38 on November 10 last year at his home in Porthleven. He was well known and much loved on The Lizard.

The inquest heard that on the day of his death, Daniel - who his family asked to be known as Dan - had gone to Penzance for the day with his partner of nine months Connie Harris.

In her statement Ms Harris said that they had met a good friend of Dan’s on the street in Penzance who she didn’t know.

The friend had given him what she called Xantax, but was more likely to be Xanax, a potent tranquiliser, which Dan had taken some of.

They had gone to Wetherspoons for a couple of pints where he had taken some more Xanex, before returning to the Waterfront pub in Porthleven for more drinks with friends before they returned to his flat.

They put the shopping away and had more drinks whilst sitting on the sofa watching TV and Dan took some more of the substance.

She thinks they must have fallen asleep on the sofa but when she woke up around 10pm she still on the sofa but Dan was on the floor.

She performed CPR on him while calling 999. When the ambulance crew arrived they said there was nothing they could do for him and he was pronounced dead.

Connie said they had first known each as friends when they were 18 or 19 and had enjoyed each other’s company.

They had gone their separate ways when he met his long-term partner. When that relationship ended, she said she had been surprised that they had become a couple because of the long-term friendship.

She said they supported each other through difficult times.

Daniel’s dad Steven Daniels told the inquest that his son had grown up on The Lizard, had gone to Landewednack Primary School and Mullion School.

He said his son was a “happy” boy who loved skateboarding, surfing, mountain biking and fishing.

After school he worked for his father as a painter and decorator before joining a fishing boat crew.

Unfortunately, he’d had an accident which badly broke his leg in two places and had pins put in his leg, which put him out of action for 12 months.

“Then just as he was getting back on his feet he had a stroke, which put him back again,” said Mr Daniels.

His son recovered and joined him painting and decorating.

“I know now my son was liked by a lot of people,” said Mr Daniels. “His death was a massive shock to the family and his many friends.

“The number of people at his celebration of life showed how much he was liked by his friends.”

He said he loved Dan “so much” and had been concerned about his son's health.

The inquest heard that Dan had a Methadone prescription following a previous addiction several years earlier.

Methadone was found in his blood stream after his death, along with another range of drugs including opioids, but none were within the lethal range.

He had been suffering from a persistent cough in the run-up to his death which had been getting better. He was due to go to hospital for an X-ray for it before he died.

Prior to his death he had been working back on fishing boats again and was away for long periods of time. Compulsory blood tests taken as part of his Methadone prescription showed only the methadone in his system.

The inquest heard that he suffered from financial worries and a recent large rise in his rent had left him facing eviction from his flat.

A post-mortem found the cause of death was multi-drug toxicity.

Coroner Emma Hillson accepted the cause of death and reached a conclusion that it was a drug related death.