A CORONER warned there is no such thing as a safe ecstasy pill after a man died after seemingly taking just one tablet.

Matthew Oxley, 28, of Timbrell Street, Trowbridge, died on September 3 last year after becoming ill the previous day.

At an inquest in Devizes on Friday, the court heard how Mr Oxley, who had earlier managed to kick a heroin addiction and suffered from mental health problems, had started to have difficulty breathing and began drinking excessive amounts of water.

His friend Fungus Badder, who lived in the flat next door, said in a statement: "He said he couldn't breathe and had something spiky stuck in his throat.

"He was wandering in and out saying he felt really ill and then started saying he felt like he was dying. He looked like he was having panic attacks. His top was wet as if he'd spilt water trying to drink as much as he could."

Mr Badder persuaded his friend to go to see a GP and he then went to Trowbridge Hospital, where his condition worsened.

He was taken to the Royal United Hospital, Bath, where he was found to have brain swelling and very low sodium levels, both characteristics of ecstasy-related conditions.

Mr Oxley had previously complained to a doctor he had taken a bad pill' but Home Office pathologist Dr Hugh White, who carried out the post mortem examination, said there was no distinction between a good or bad ecstasy tablet.

"There are numerous examples of people having taken ecstasy and having no effects and people who have taken one and died," he said.

"I'm not aware that a bad e' causes problems a good e' doesn't. It's the ecstasy itself that causes the problems."

He said there was no trace of ecstasy found in Mr Oxley's urine but said this was probably because it was so diluted due to the amount of water he had drunk.

"The findings strongly suggest this is an ecstasy-related death because of the brain swelling caused by the behaviour produced by taking the drug," he said.

Recording a verdict of non-dependent drug abuse, coroner David Masters said: "We can conclude that Matthew died from ecstasy toxicity.

"We don't know when or how many but there is reference to a singular tablet and Dr White says one can do the damage.

"A good e' can do the same as a bad e', there is no distinction. It may be just one tablet but there is no safe level."

After the inquest Mr Oxley's father Norman, from Frome, said his son's death had been a sad and tragic accident.

"Matthew was a softie. If someone offered him something, whether it was for money or not, he would take it. He may or may not have been looking to take that pill at that time. We'll never know why he took it at that moment," he said.

"If he was looking for it and hadn't got it from one person he would have got it from another."

"When we spoke on the phone the day before he died he seemed happy with our arrangement to meet the following week. It's very sad."