A TEENAGER died after snorting heroin which he thought was cocaine, an inquest heard.

Francis Clapham, 16, died in Burnley General Hospital two months after taking the drug at his home in Hallam Road, Nelson, with a friend, the hearing at Burnley Magistrates Court heard.

The inquest was told that Francis suffered extensive brain damage from which he could never have recovered as a result of taking the drug.

He and his 16-year-old friend, who had also both drunk vodka, were found collapsed in Marsden Park, Nelson, after taking the heroin.

His friend made a swift recovery and was discharged from hospital two days later but Francis, who attended Fisher More High School, died on May 21 last year.

Francis' brother, Andrew, told the inquest he had been in the house on the night in question and had taken some heroin before confistacting the drug.

He said: "He thought it was cocaine and that he and his friend had taken some.

"We had an argument about the drugs and he stormed out.

"I handed the rest of the package to the paramedics.

"I only saw him taking a line of it but he might have had some more in his pocket."

DC Neil Morris, from Pendle CID, said that Francis did not have a history of drug taking or dealing.

He said that initially police thought that Francis and his friend had been assaulted in the park but investigations found that this was not the case.

DC Morris said: "The drug was bought for £1-2 in the park.

"Francis and his friend thought it was cocaine which is why they snorted it.

"It was taken back to Francis's house and shared there."

In September last year a 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was spared detention after admitting to supplying heroin to and posessing the drug with intent to supply over the incident.

The court was told Francis's family did not want the youth to be sent to custody.

Pathologist Dr Naomi Carter told the inquest that the heroin had resulted in organ failure and Francis's brain had been starved of oxygen.

He subsequently contracted MRSA in hospital and had a reaction to anti-biotics but Dr Carter said he would not have recovered from the brain damage he had suffered.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Richard Taylor said: "It was clearly an accident that he took a substance which he had no idea would end in his death.

"It was entirely down to the heroin he died."