Ananova:

Coroner Dr Paul Knapman has returned a verdict that Paula Yates died from non-dependent abuse of drugs, after taking heroin.

The inquest at Westminster Coroner Court had earlier heard how Miss Yates had been taking drugs the day before she was found dead.

Belinda Brewin says she went to see Miss Yates on September 16 and she was "not in a very good state".

"She was slightly staggering, her eyelids were drooping, she was slightly incoherent, I could tell that she had been taking drugs," Mrs Brewin told Westminster Coroners Court.

"I said to her, 'what the hell have you been doing this for?'"

Mrs Brewin told Coroner Dr Paul Knapman: "She hadn't taken illegal drugs for nearly two years. She said it was the pressure of being back in London. I said I thought that was a rather pathetic excuse, she said she was 'sorry', and for me not to be cross with her.

"I suggested we go for a walk, she was half falling asleep. I walked her around the block, I made her some tea, I cleared up the mess in the kitchen - she had been sick - I put her in the bath, and washed her hair."

Mrs Brewin says that at one point she was going to go up the stairs, but Miss Yates told her: "Don't go in there, I've been really sick."

When Mrs Brewin left, Miss Yates was "quite coherent".

Mrs Brewin has told how she found out the next day, after she learned that Paula was dead, that another friend of Miss Yates had been in the house when Mrs Brewin visited.

Charlotte Korshak had told the inquest that she had attended the Priory Clinic, Roehampton, in 1999 because of her difficulty with heroin addiction.

She said she knew Miss Yates had taken illegal drugs in the past and was told that she had taken heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and acid. Miss Korshak agreed that Miss Yates would take heroin and cocaine.