A convicted drug dealer whose life went off the rails after his mum died when he was 13 has died of a suspected drugs overdose.

Former Notley High School pupil Daniel Spinks, 34, who grew up with his parents and five siblings in Hillside Gardens, Braintree, was pronounced dead at 7.15pm last Thursday about 90 minutes after he went into cardiac arrest in the front garden of a house in Salisbury Avenue, Colchester.

A man, 45, and a woman, 33, were arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs and have been bailed until November 14.

His sister Angie Jessett, 50, who now lives in Southampton, said her brother was a “lost soul”, who was easily influenced and had struggled to come to terms with the death of their mother when he was a teenager.

The mum-of-six said: “He would do anything for anyone, he would try and please everyone.

“I think people would take advantage of his good nature.

“My children loved him to pieces."

See this week's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.