A FORMER easyJet flight attendant was found dead by his partner after taking a cocktail of drugs.

Damian Pelsma, 39, was found not breathing by his boyfriend after they had both spent the night taking class A drugs, including crystal meth.

Despite the best efforts of his partner to resuscitate him, the Durham University graduate died at his flat in Coombe Road, Brighton.

An inquest in Brighton heard Andrew Gibson had woken to find his partner not breathing on the sofa, before frantically phoning 999.

Mr Pelsma, who was a former cabin manager for easyJet, was pronounced dead at 03.50am by the ambulance crew on the September 14 last year.

Toxicology reports showed Mr Pelsma had taken a deadly cocktail of crystal meth and a lethal amount of morphine and prescribed sertraline tablets, amongst others, in a drugs binge.

Mr Gibson told police he had bought crystal meth two days before his boyfriend's death. He told them they had stayed up all night on the drug, before collecting a morphine prescription on September 13.

The pair had drunk a weeks supply of morphine by 3am the next day. 

Detective sergeant Dee Wells of Sussex Police’s drugs squad said the flat was scattered with drug paraphernalia.

She said: “From the scene empty baggies were examined forensically and we found traces of cocaine, and several used syringes were found to contain crystal meth.

“And a further syringe examined had 83mg of mixture crystal meth and morphine, which would suggest he was abusing the medication and mixing it with crystal meth and injecting it.”

She said two people have since been arrested and have been released under investigation in relation to the supply of drugs to the couple, after being traced through Mr Gibson’s phone.

Mr Gibson, who was also taken to hospital and arrested after his partner’s death, was released with no further action taken by police.

Mr Gibson died in December of natural causes, unrelated to his partner's death.

Detective sergeant Wells added: ”Crystal meth has started to become a big problem for us recently.”

The inquest also heard Mr Pelsma had a history of substance abuse and alcohol dependency, as well as Tourette’s syndrome and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder.

Senior coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley ruled Mr Pelsma died from a morphine overdose, and recorded a verdict of misadventure.

She said Brighton and Hove had the highest number of drugs death per capita of population than any other jurisdiction in the country.

Mr Pelsma had previously worked for American Express before losing his job, and setting up a change.org petition in response to his sacking.

One supporter of the petition commented at the time: "Damien is a dear friend of mine and I think it is commendable that he still has such a good work ethic in spite of having two life-threatening conditions - Tourette's plus a mental health problem that is hard to live with."

Mr Pelsma had been attending drugs misuse service Pavilions earlier in the year in a bid to beat his drug habit, but stopped attending appointments in March.  

His mother, Carrol O'Connor, told the inquest: “He was better a year or a so ago. I tried to encourage him all the way.

“He did seem reaching like he wanted to reach out for help. He wanted to get better.”

Speaking to The Argus Mrs O'Connor added: "There were hundreds of people in Brighton who loved him very much. 

"After he died there were 250 tributes to him on Facebook, because he had a Eurovision group online, and he got to know a lot of people through that.

"He was a very kind, loving, friendly person who was trying to help his partner Andrew with his severe drug addiction. 

"What came across in the inquest is that Damian had stopped drinking, and no alcohol was found in his system.

"I was in very close contact with my son, all the way through his problems. Borderline personality disorder is extremely difficult to cope with.

"He wasn't just another junkie, otherwise his system would have been used to the drugs.

"He was trying very hard to help Andrew and felt there was a future for them. He in a way sacrificed his own well-being for his partner."