'We will never know why our Darren died in Vietnam - he would never have touched drugs'

He died in hospital after being found unconscious at a bar in the capital city of Hanoi

The family of a Nottingham man who died in Vietnam fear they will never find closure after an inquest failed to give answers about the circumstances around his death. Darren Blair, from Bakersfield, died in hospital after being found unconscious at a bar in the capital city of Hanoi on September 26 last year.

The 31-year-old, who travelled all over the world working on the Disney on Ice Tour, was in the country after completing its Japanese leg and planned to come home to start a family. At an inquest held in Nottingham on Tuesday, October 15, a coroner was unable to record a conclusion, citing a lack of evidence from the Vietnamese authorities.

A post mortem, which was carried out at the Queen's Medical Centre after the repatriation of Mr Blair, found he had died from the "combined toxicity of heroin and ethanol". However, assistant coroner Rebecca Covington was unable to determine how it had got into his system.

“It may have been the case that he was taking it willingly or for some unexplained purpose. It may be that he was forced to use them or they were given to him without his knowledge or some other explanation," she said.

Mr Blair's family and friends, who attended the inquest at Nottingham Council House, said there was "no way" he would have consensually taken the drug. They also pointed out he had withdrawn £300 in cash earlier that night but was later found with only 90p.

The family were also told he was found without a gold chain and earring despite wearing them earlier that evening. Kane Ashmore, a long-time friend, told the hearing: "With my whole honest heart the drugs that have been mentioned and choices made were not Darren.

"I’ve known him for a very long time. He didn’t partake in drinking when away. He was a very smart man and experienced the world. I don’t think he’d make that choice, especially not as extreme as heroin."

Catherine Nicol, one of Darren's three siblings, said: “He worked a very physical job and would be drug tested. He would never do that type of drug. Not in a million years."

CCTV clips provided by the bar in Vietnam showed Mr Blair arrive on a bike at around 10pm and he is later seen sitting and dancing with a group of people, the inquest was told. By around 5am he is shown lying on a bench by the bar, before he is dragged out the back door and into an ambulance.

Ms Covington said it was "not clear when he became so unwell". Only 10 minutes of CCTV footage, split into eight short clips, were provided to the coroners office and his family said there was a gap between around 11pm and 5am.

Ms Nicol said the bar refused to give her the full eight hours of footage when she went out to Vietnam. Speaking after the hearing, she said she believed Mr Blair was spiked.

The coroner's office was told local police believed there were no suspicious circumstances regarding the death and closed the investigation once he was repatriated to England. Ms Covington said she was unable to get any further evidence from Vietnam. “In short, there isn’t much information forthcoming. The reality is I have no power to insist that they provide me with anything," she said.

"I cannot reach a conclusion as I don’t have the evidence to be satisfied." The coroner recorded an open conclusion, meaning the case can be reopened by the High Court should new evidence come to light.

However, Mr Blair's family said they were not hopeful anything else would come to light. “Vietnam are never going to send over any evidence," said Ms Nicol. “I don’t think there will be anything else that will come from it."