HEARTBROKEN mother Janet Willcox, whose heroin addict son died of an overdose, says his memory will live on through his daughter.

Three-year-old Tiffany was adopted by Mrs Willcox and her husband Terry and is giving them comfort after the death of their son Gary, 20.

He was found dead on a sofa at a friend's house in Chippenham on September 8, 2001, two days after he was released from Reading Prison. But despite an inquest last week, the events leading up to his death are still shrouded in mystery.

Gary's death is the second tragedy to hit he family. Three years ago his sister Kerry, 23, died suddenly from a brain haemorrhage. She was the lead singer of popular soul band Respect.

Mrs Willcox said Gary smoked cannabis since he was 11, but it was not until the sudden death of his elder sister that he began smoking and then injecting heroin.

She said Gary was very close to his sister and believes her loss, when he was aged just 16, may have triggered his spiral into hard drugs. Shortly afterwards the family moved from their home in Westerleigh Close, in Chippenham, to Melksham.

Mrs Willcox said Gary started to commit crime to pay for his habit. "He became a very sad and lost soul,'' she said.

Mrs Willcox said much of her son's personality shines through her granddaughter.

She said he was a humorous and loving child and she found it heartbreaking watching his life deteriorate.

"When he was little he was most intelligent, but he wouldn't use it," Mrs Willcox said. "He was always in an out of trouble but he had a great sense of humour. And no matter what Gary did, Kerry would say 'but mum he's so funny.' It's just sad he decided to close that door."

The last time Mrs Willcox saw her son was on the morning of September 7, the day after he returned home from serving a four-and-a-half month jail sentence for shoplifting.

She said he looked healthy and he said he was off heroin and was determined to stay clean.

"Normally I would have stayed with my son, but I had to go to Bath Royal United Hospital to see my mother who died later that afternoon," she said.

On Thursday Wiltshire's deputy coroner William Bache, recorded a verdict of accidental death on Gary, but admitted there were inconsistencies surrounding the cause of his death and the timing of his movements on the last day of his life.

Mrs Willcox said she has many unanswered questions, and admitted she thought it unlikely the family will ever know the full facts.

But she believes it is time for Gary to be at rest and for her family to move on.

"The verdict gives us come sense of closure," she said.

"And I don't want to end up all bitter and twisted and end up blaming everyone else because it effects my family and my husband and our relationship.

"We have been as thorough as we can during the inquest so that in the future, Tiffany will know we have done everything we could have to find out what happened to her dad."

Mrs Willcox, who has two other children Tristan, 25, and Tessa, 22, admitted suffering from bouts of depression since the death of her daughter Kerry.

She said her life goes on with bittersweet memories and she takes it day by day.

But she is grateful to Tiffany and her grandchildren for preventing her from becoming negative.

Mrs Willcox paid tribute to Reach Out, an agency that provides confidential support and advice to drug users and their families, for their support after Gary's death.

She said she would like to get involved in working for the group and using her experiences of living with a heroin addict to help others