Cambridge death fall student 'naively' took drugs

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Thomas MillwardImage source, Millward family/PA
Image caption,
Thomas Millward's parents said the engineering student was 'one of the most promising young men of his generation'

A Cambridge University student was found at the bottom of a stairwell after "naively" taking drugs, an inquest has heard.

Thomas Millward, 19, suffered a "severe and traumatic brain injury" at Girton College on 5 March 2016 and died the next day.

Cambridgeshire Coroner's Court heard he may have chased someone down the stairs before falling.

The jury was told the drug Mr Millward took was "probably known as 1P-LSD".

It has since become a banned substance.

Mr Millward, an "extremely intelligent" engineering student from Cheltenham, took it with his girlfriend Daniella Mieloszyk.

Ms Mieloszyk told the court she believed the pair "naively didn't realise" what the drug would be like.

Image source, Rodney Burton/Geograph
Image caption,
Mr Millward died the day after his fall at Girton College

She told the jury how, some time later, she felt like she had woken up and "saw Thomas lying" on the floor naked near a fellow student.

"I thought it was like a dream and I just kept saying 'we took a drug' as if we could realise it's not real," Ms Mieloszyk told the court.

The inquest also heard Mr Millward had a tendency to slide down the banister of the stairs at the college on a daily basis.

Consultant neurosurgeon Stephen Price of Addenbrooke's Hospital, said he believed he died of a "severe and traumatic brain injury".

The inquest continues.

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