A British man found dead in a Bangkok hotel room earlier this year had high levels of heroin and cocaine in his system, an inquest has heard. Joshua James Kershaw, also known as Sadler, 21, was pronounced dead at Maxim's Inn Hotel in Bangkok on January 13.
An inquest opened at Wakefield Coroner's Court on March 27 heard that toxicology tests carried out after his body was returned to the UK revealed the presence of the drugs at levels high enough to cause death. Coroner Oliver Longstaff adjourned the hearing, noting that the 'suggestion' from the tests was that drugs had played a part in Joshua's death and that it was not a natural death.
The court was told that Joshua, originally from Grimsby, was single and unemployed, and had been living in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. He was identified by his passport after being found unresponsive in his hotel room.
Joshua's mother, Jenny, posted on Facebook on March 25 that the investigation into his death has been reopened and is now being treated as murder or manslaughter. She wrote that a combination of seven different substances had been found in his system at extremely high levels, raising serious concerns. She also shared a photo of a woman they want to speak to about their son's sudden death.
Joshua had been in Thailand for only about 10 hours before he died. His body was repatriated last month, and a funeral was held at Wakefield Crematorium.
