THE distraught boyfriend of Love Island contestant Sophie Gradon took his own life weeks after he found her hanging, a coroner has ruled.

Aaron Armstrong's mother Donna discovered him in his bedroom at the family home in Blyth, Northumberland, on July 10 last year, an inquest in North Shields, North Tyneside was told.

The fit and healthy boat captain, who worked for his father, had hanged himself, the inquest was told.

Coroner Eric Armstrong found that the 25-year-old had alcohol and cocaine in his body when he died, and the effects of the substances had prevented him from thinking rationally.

The inquest was told Mr Armstrong and his brother Ryan had found Miss Gradon, 32, hanging at her home in Ponteland, Northumberland, the previous month.

Mrs Armstrong said in a statement to the inquest that her concerned sons had gone round to Miss Gradon's home after Aaron had not heard from her and had grown worried about her lack of activity on social media.

He got his brother to take him round as he was worried about what he would find, the statement said.

Thirty minutes later, Ryan telephoned his mother in tears to say they had found Miss Gradon hanging and Mrs Armstrong could hear Aaron screaming.

In her statement read by the coroner, Mrs Armstrong said: "Aaron seemed absolutely hysterical."

The coroner said it was clear her son was "extremely distressed".

He later took a photo of his girlfriend to make a memorial to her in the Northumberland countryside.

In the following weeks his mood was quiet and very upset, the inquest heard.

A toxicology report after his death found he had drunk alcohol and had enough cocaine in his system to put him in the range of someone who could be arrested for impaired driving if they were caught behind the wheel, the coroner said.

The inquest heard that those substances "increased the likelihood of violent thoughts and actions".

The coroner said new research showed someone who took them together was 16 times more likely to take their own life.

He clarified this was not a suicide verdict, but returned a narrative conclusion that Mr Armstrong "having consumed alcohol and cocaine, took his own life by hanging".

The coroner issued a warning about mixing alcohol and cocaine, saying: "Despite the belief that seems to be fairly prevalent in the general public, this is not without risk.

"I have recently seen an increase in the number of deaths linked to the use of alcohol and cocaine.

"I cannot believe any one of them thought it was going to result in their death.

"Sadly it can and does happen. I think Aaron is one of them to whom this happened.

"His thinking was muddled by the distress of Sophie's death, the distress at having found her, with his brother.

"The consequence of taking alcohol and cocaine together prevented him from thinking rationally about his actions."

Miss Gradon and Mr Armstrong met in May and hit it off immediately, the inquest was told.

Mrs Armstrong's statement explained how her son went into Newcastle with friends and he came back the next day "with a big cheesy grin on his face, obviously very pleased with himself".

Her statement added: "Initially he was a bit coy, but it became clear that the relationship meant an awful lot to him."

Mrs Armstrong said their relationship was "very intense and emotional".

After Miss Gradon's death, Mr Armstrong developed a friendship with a local mother called Gemma Mather.

In a statement, Ms Mather said: "Aaron was not in the right frame of mind and was in a very bad place.

"I kept in touch with Aaron just to try to help."

Earlier, the inquest heard how Mr Armstrong had kicked a cocaine habit after his family bought him drug testing kits in 2015, and he regularly proved he was clean.

An inquest for Miss Gradon was due to be heard on Thursday but has been postponed.