Coroner warns of 'designer drugs' after clubber, 21, took FIVE Ecstasy tablets at notorious Manchester 'Death Club' before clambering up scaffolding and plunging 60ft to his death 

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James Lees, 21, from Hartlepool, fell 60ft after clambering up scaffolding and onto a ledge , while high on Ecstasy

A clubber plunged to his death after taking Ecstasy during a drug-fuelled night at a notorious Manchester venue nicknamed the 'Death Club'.

James Lees, 21, from Hartlepool, fell 60ft after clambering up scaffolding and onto a ledge in Manchester, while high on 'fatally toxic' levels of drugs.

Mr Lees had been enjoying a night at the Warehouse Project club with friends when tragedy struck in the early hours of the morning.

The technical analyst was found lying in the road and died at the scene despite efforts by medics to revive him.

Tests showed Mr Lees had taken Ecstasy, the psycho-active amphetamine-based drug MDA and a former legal high known as NRG3.

A Manchester inquest was told he and his friends had attended the Warehouse Project's Mastermix night at a car park underneath Piccadilly Railway Station, last November.

One of the group, Daniel Robinson said: 'We started off from Hartlepool at about 6pm. 

'I was driving and they were all drinking in the car on the way there. We got to the Warehouse Project and we all went to the bar to get drinks.

'I said I was going to the toilet and that I would meet them back there. By the time I got back to where they had been none of them were there.

'I did bump into them all eventually. James was happy and bouncing about. We were going to the different floors to watch the different acts when we got separated again.

'I thought that all of them were together so I went back to the hotel and thought they would be back there by the morning. I woke up and they weren't there. We tried to contact James but we just couldn't get hold of him.

'It was only later on that we found out what had happened. They were drinking Vodka Rockstars.

Pictured: The car park under Manchester Piccadilly Station where the Warehouse Project held its Mastermix night

'James had five pills with him when he got in the car - they were Ecstasy pills. He said that he was hopefully going to sell a couple of them. I didn't see him take anything. He was just being happy and dancing.

'He was bouncing. I think he did some balloons. He was just loving life and happy and dancing. I last saw him around 2am and the Warehouse Project finished at 4am.'

Another friend, Carl Massey, told the inquest: 'We were sharing my bottle of vodka and had 2-3 drinks from James when we were driving in the car. We shared a full litre of my vodka about 4-5 glasses each.

'James got in the car with about 4-5 Ecstasy tables and asked 'do any of you want any because I don't want to be the only one'. He said he didn't want to take them all so he said he was going to try to sell a few of them.

'The last time I saw him was about 2.30am. He was happy and normal and didn't seem down or anything. I didn't see him take anything all night.'

Mr Lees' mobile phone was found near his body but it was too badly damaged to be examined for messages. 

Medical tests showed that Mr Lees had taken 'fatally toxic levels of Ecstasy 

Elizabeth Davies Coroners Officer told the hearing: 'James had travelled with friends to go to the Warehouse Project in Manchester and arrived there at 10.15pm but James became separated and the last time they saw him in the club was 2.30am.

'A witness who called police at 3.30am saw James and he believed the man was behaving in a way that he was under the influence of drugs.

'He was dancing and laughing and singing and waving his arms about. He saw the male start to climb the scaffolding. 

'He kept climbing until he got to a ledge on about the third storey, then he lost sight of him when he reaches the 6th storey. 

'He next saw the man when he was on the floor.'

Mr Lees' father John, told the hearing: 'My son had not been to Manchester before and did not know the area. When he arrived he texted to say that he had arrived safely. He had lots of plans for the future.

'He had a girlfriend, he had been on holiday and he was planning to go on holiday again. As far as I was aware James was anti-drugs.

'The first I heard about this was when the police arrived on the Saturday and told me that he had been taking drugs. I had seen a video of James laughing and singing and in good spirits on the way to Manchester. Whatever happened was definitely not intentional.'

Coroner Fiona Borrill recorded a narrative conclusion and said that James died as a result of an accident contributed to by the effects of excessive use of MDMA and MDA.

She said: 'This is extremely distressing and a tragic case of a very young man who had everything to live for. James had taken a significantly high amount of Ecstasy. 

'On the drive to Manchester he had five Ecstasy tables with him and he must have taken more Ecstasy at the Warehouse Project because the levels in his blood were found to be fatally toxic.

'The effects of the illegal drugs James too were effects of euphoria, agitation and hallucination. We do not know what condition he was in when he was on the ledge - but it could have been because he slipped or because he was hallucinating.

On New Year's Eve 2012 university student Souvik Pal, 19, was found drowned in a canal after taking Ecstasy at the Warehouse Project

Prince's Trust worker Nick Bonnie, 30, died from an Ecstasy overdose after collapsing at a Warehouse project event in 2013. Last December beautician Lauren Atkinson, 19, died of an Ecstasy overdose after attending the club's Heldeep rave

'I am satisfied that the amount of drugs James had taken contributed to his behaviour that evening. I hope his friends understand the risk of taking illegal and designer drugs.'

On New Year's Eve 2012 university student Souvik Pal, 19, was found drowned in a canal after taking Ecstasy in the club having earlier smuggled tablets into the Warehouse Project inside his clothing.

The following year Prince's Trust worker Nick Bonnie, 30, from Gloucestershire died from an Ecstasy overdose after collapsing whilst attending a Warehouse project event and in that same year 16 revellers ended up in hospital after taking drugs at the club.

Last December beautician Lauren Atkinson, 19, from The Lake District died of an Ecstasy overdose after attending the club's Heldeep rave during a girlie weekend. The fallout from the deaths led to calls for the club's license to be reviewed in 2013 but police said the venue was well run.

The club has previously deployed 100 security guards and sniffer dogs at the door to crack down on drug taking and even got scientists to test clubbers' drugs in the venue itself as a part of warning about dangerous batches of Ecstasy.