Man died on Gran Canaria after taking drugs found in bin
- Published
Thomas Bourke had been living with friends in an abandoned shopping centre on Avenida el Marinero (pictured) in the tourist resort of Lomo Quiebre, Gran Canaria
A British man died while on a Spanish island after he and a group of friends took some medication they had found in a bin, an inquest has heard.
Thomas Bourke, 25, who was from Reepham in Norfolk, never woke up after partying at his squat in Gran Canaria.
The inquest in Norwich was told the pills had been "labelled in Spanish, but no-one knew what they were".
Coroner Yvonne Blake said Mr Bourke was normally a "fit and well young man" and his death was "very sad".
She concluded he had died a drug-related death.
A toxicology report found a number of substances in Mr Bourke's system.
Mr Bourke could not be woken up, Norfolk Coroner's Court (pictured) heard.
Mr Bourke's friend Chris Purdy told how the pair - who met at sixth form - had been living in an abandoned shopping centre after Mr Bourke followed his girlfriend to the Spanish island.
Mr Purdy said Mr Bourke and friends at the squat had taken the medication found in the bin and had "partied" over the next couple of days.
On 21 November, Mr Purdy said they had tried but failed to wake Mr Bourke before heading to work at the beach, busking and blowing bubbles for tourists.
When they returned home, Mr Bourke appeared to be asleep still.
"I tried to shake him and open his eyes, but he wouldn't wake up," said Mr Purdy in a written statement read to the hearing - conducted remotely due to the coronavirus crisis.
He said it was the "worst experience of my life".
Mr Bourke's mother said in a statement she had a "very close and loving relationship" with her son and she had travelled to the Canaries to try to discover what had happened to him.