A Watford plumber eager to get in shape for his wedding day took a lethal cocktail of drugs believing it to be a health supplement, an inquest heard.


Nicholas Beran, 30, died in his sleep beside his fiancée Carly Dagnell in the early hours of May 1.


Miss Dagnell told the inquest, held at Hatfield Coroner’s Court yesterday she woke to discover he had stopped breathing and unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate him before calling paramedics.


She said the previous evening he had consumed a green liquid which he was sent by an individual he met on an exercise forum, telling her it was a high calorific supplement he was using to bulk up before their wedding in September.


A post mortem carried out by Dr Matilda Ralph revealed he had consumed methadone, temazepam, amitriptyline and traces of morphine.


In her report, she noted: "The combination of these would depress the respiratory system to a level where it ceases to function."


Dr Ralph recommended the cause of death be recorded as multi-drug toxicity.


Miss Dagnell, who shared the two-bedroom flat on Langley Road with Mr Beran for three years, said: "We had been planning to marry in September and he had recently been pushing himself quite hard to get in shape.


"He took it upon himself to get fit for the wedding photos. He did research on the internet."


Talking about the night of her South African partner’s death, she said: "When we got home everything was normal, Nick had drunk something.
"He said it was full of calories, he was struggling to eat a lot and he drunk it from a wine glass before I could do anything about it."


Miss Dagnell woke at 6.50am when Mr Beran’s alarm clock sounded but he did not respond. She tried to revive him and phoned an ambulance and her mother, who is a nurse.


Hertfordshire coroner Edward Thomas said she had acted in exactly the right way. He said: "What you did to try to revive him was entirely right. There was nothing more you could have done."


Mr Thomas recorded a verdict of accidental death. A police investigation into the origin of the green liquid is ongoing.