A 23-year-old man described by his family as "bright, intelligent and smiley" was looking forward to the future before his death, an inquest has heard.

On Monday, a jury inquest into the death of Finley Clark began at Suffolk Coroners’ Court in Ipswich.

Mr Clark was 23 when he died at the home where he lived with his partner in Bury St Edmunds on November 13 last year.

A statement from Mr Clark’s mother, Lucy Knight, was read before the court by assistant coroner for Suffolk, Mr Peter Taheri.

Finley was, his mother wrote, a “bright, intelligent and smiley” child who loved music and was regularly cast in school plays at primary school.

As a teenager, Mr Clark had been talent-spotted by a model scout, leading to him walking the catwalk in London, Paris and Milan, and being featured in Vogue magazine. 

He “flew” through his GCSEs and went on to study A-levels in psychology, English literature and film studies.

However, around this time Mr Clark suffered a “vicious attack”, Miss Knight wrote. This greatly impacted his confidence, leaving him feeling upset and anxious, and led to him cutting his studies short.

Mr Clark moved in with his mother in the latter part of 2022. Quickly, his mother realised that Mr Clark was dependent on alcohol. She also questioned whether he was taking drugs at this time.

In February 2023, Mr Clark found a job working at the children’s charity Barnardo’s, where he started work in June of that year. Around this time, he also disclosed to her that he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

The court heard that Mr Clark had been receiving support from mental health services from December 2020 to April 2022, and also suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

In June 2023, Mr Clark met his partner, Olivia Tindall. The couple moved in together in Bury St Edmunds that October. However, Mr Clark continued to struggle with drugs. 

The day before his death, Miss Knight was contacted by two of his friends, who asked that she come and collect him, as they had discovered that he had methadone on his person.

She believed the reason for the friends’ concern was that they had been taking other drugs together and were worried about the effects of these drugs in combination with methadone. 

Miss Knight said that she tried to persuade Mr Clark to come home with her, but that he wanted to return to the home in Bury St Edmunds he shared with his Miss Tindall.

His mother took him to Diss railway station, after he had agreed to hand over the drugs he had with him. 

At 10.15pm, Miss Tindall confirmed that Mr Clark had arrived home safely. In her own statement read before the court, she described searching Mr Clark’s pockets, trying to ensure that he did not bring drugs into their home. 

She recalled that that night, they talked at length about his drug taking.

Miss Tindall went to bed at around 10.45pm, while Mr Clark remained in the living room.

When she woke up at around 7.30am the following morning, she discovered that he had died.

The emergency services were called, and they advised her to carry out CPR. When paramedics arrived, they confirmed that he had passed away.

Miss Tindall said in her evidence that she did not believe that he had intended to take his own life.

She said he was looking forward to the future, had been thinking undertaking charity work, and was content with their life together.

He was, she said, "the love of my life, my world, my everything".

The inquest continues.