A groom-to-be who died just months before his wedding after falling from a washing line at a party had taken a cocktail of drugs, an inquest has heard.

Adam Ashby, 31, climbed up a 10ft pole to impress friends at a gathering on May 26, but the horseplay went tragically wrong when he fell, landing on his head on a paved area.

Ambulance crews were called and he was rushed to King's College Hospital in London but died the following day.

Mr Ashby, an alarm engineer who lived at Princes Street, Maidstone, was due to marry Abbie Wildeman in January, who described her fiance as "a worker and a family man".

An inquest at the Archbishop's Palace heard evidence from his brother, David, who said Mr Ashby would often take recreational drugs in a party environment.

"He was messing around, he always liked to play the clown," he said.

"He wanted to show off and make people laugh."

A post-mortem gave a traumatic brain injury and skull fracture as the cause of his death.

The fall from height and cocaine, ketamine and midazolam use were given as contributing factors.

Assistant coroner Joanne Andrews concluded Mr Ashby's death was an accident.

She added: "I'd like to express my condolences to the family at what must be an incredibly difficult time."

Miss Wildeman, a mum-of-three who now lives in Rochester, spoke earlier this year of the agonising process of calling off her venue booking, telling caterers they are not needed, and cancelling her wedding dress order.

“It’s been devastating and so hard - he fell right in front of me, my friends, and my family," she said.

“Although he wasn’t the father of my children he treated them as if they were his own.”

A funeral held on June 20 saw Tonbridge Cemetery Chapel packed with friends, family and colleagues who came in droves to pay their respects.

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