Man stabbed himself to death while ‘high on magic mushrooms’

A young man stabbed himself in the stomach while high on magic mushrooms, an inquest heard. Tom Belcher’s heartbroken mum said the 21-year-old had seemed to be “at his happiest” in the weeks before his tragic death.

Police found Tom’s body at his flat in Newcastle-under-Lyme after he’d sent “concerning” messages to his mum and sister. Sadly, there was nothing officers or medics could do to help Tom, who died from a single stab wound to the abdomen on October 18, 2022.

Third-party involvement was ruled out by Staffordshire Police and, while self-inflicted, the coroner did not believe it “was an act of suicide”, StokeonTrentLive reports. Phone records showed he had been in contact with a family friend regarding the drugs, which the inquest heard “had an impact” on his actions.

A statement read out during the hearing from his mum, Heidi Belcher, said: “Over the last few weeks of Tom’s life he seemed at his happiest. He had made plans to go back to university and move to a bigger address where he could get a dog.”

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Pathologist Dr Mark Stevens told the inquest: “There is no evidence of any other injury externally, the features are therefore consistent with a self-inflicted injury. I have read the toxicology report which confirms the detection of psilocybin, this confirms the deceased had ingested magic mushrooms prior to his death.”

A narrative verdict was delivered by North Staffordshire assistant coroner Daniel Howe. He said: “I am satisfied that not only had Tom ingested magic mushrooms, he was also suffering the effects of magic mushrooms at the time of his passing. I do not think that was an act of suicide, I cannot say that the act was fully down to the drugs but it certainly had an impact.