WHEN Luke Fitzgerald gave evidence he told the inquest jury that on May 9, 2000, he had been sent into Exeter to get a bag of heroin.

He came back to find an empty flat and a note on the television. Mr Fitzgerald - and previous statements - suggested that Rachel had used this time to move to a new bedsit.

"Looking back now, it's clear to me she sent me to Exeter because she wanted to get rid of me," said Mr Fitzgerald, who told the jury he was no longer taking drugs and had been clean for five years.

Later that day, he said, the pair met in Exmouth and had walked to the beach where Rachel said she was leaving him. "She said she wanted a new life," he said.

He told the inquest that another chance meeting took place on the morning of her death but denied the couple ever met in Rachel's new bedsit.

Answering questions about Rachel's state and her drug habit at the time, Mr Fitzgerald claimed the pair were getting better.

"She, like myself, had a history of drug use. She took ecstasy, alcohol, occasionally cocaine and obviously heroin, and speed. Heroin had been her drug of choice for the majority of the time we were together," he said.

"We both had mood swings, because we were in withdrawal. There were times when I was worried about her state and scared for her welfare, but I never considered her to be suicidal."

He told the coroner that Devon and Cornwall CID had told him of Rachel's death, and said he knew nothing before that. Asked whether Rachel had purchased heroin herself that day, Mr Fitzgerald said he was unaware, because Rachel was attending counselling sessions.

Asked whether anyone had interfered with the dead body, he replied: "No, absolutely not." He then answered further questions from the coroner, on behalf of Mrs Holcroft.

He was asked why there were discrepancies in two statements, on May 13 and 25, 2000, about when the couple last met.

"My mind wasn't right at the time," he explained. Asked whether he knew Rachel's new address, he said he did not.

"I did not know where she lived. I was not there personally when she died. The first I heard about it was when the police phoned me on Saturday when she was found. And to the best of my knowledge, Simon has never been down to Devon, or to Exmouth."

He was asked why he had shown little compassion on Rachel's death, and whether he loved her.

"It's the issue of love. I know the last time I saw her things were not good. I wasn't happy with her, and she wasn't happy with me. It wasn't a great moment," he said.

"I don't want to give any impression of being false. But as you get older and less false, I realise I cared. I really cared.

"I'd like to say this to Rachel's family. I hope this inquest brings you what you want and some closure. I obviously played some part in Rachel's substance abuse but I was not there the day she died.

"I wasn't directly responsible for Rachel's death and I think they should know that."