A VENTNOR man was described as having had nine lives, before he died after injecting a large quantity of cocaine.

An inquest was held on Tuesday (8) into the death of Alan Jones, 38, of Willow Close.

On the day he died, July 7, 2017, Mr Jones had barricaded himself into the bathroom of his home, before inexplicably launching himself out of the first floor window.

On falling to the ground below, he was left relatively uninjured, but a neighbour found him acting strangely within the cul-de-sac. He was carrying a metal bar, his trousers were around his ankles, and he was trying to hide behind wheelie bins and in the undergrowth.

He was described as appearing agitated, paranoid and confused.

An ambulance was called, and his condition was found to be life threatening due to the concentration of drugs in his system.

He died from cocaine intoxication, on the helipad at St Mary's Hospital just as the air ambulance was preparing to transfer him to Southampton General.

The inquest heard in a statement from his mother, Jacqueline Jones, that Mr Jones had suffered from mental health problems since childhood.

She said: "He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia but when we moved to the Isle of Wight we were disappointed with mental health services he got here. He was crying out for assistance and never got it. I feel very let down."

Isle of Wight coroner Caroline Sumeray criticised the amount of time it had taken to get an appointment with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust's mental health team.

She said: "Basically the mother's urgent calls for help were ignored. Why are people in the mental health services not documenting things? It is unforgivable. The referral comes in and it's sitting there in a pile for two months. It makes for depressing reading.

"This man had long-term, possibly lifelong, mental health issues — no doubt exacerbated by an addiction to illicit substances.

"He seems to have had something like nine lives. He had been stabbed seven times. He had previously survived an overdose of Fentanyl which left him on life support with multi organ failure, and another window jump led to him breaking his back in seven places."

The coroner concluded the death was drug related, caused by cocaine intoxication.