A HEARTBROKEN father today begged young people not to sniff gas after the death of his son.

Promising student Paul Fitzpatrick, 21, from Farnworth, was found dead by his horrified younger brother after he had sniffed butane gas from a canister -- 17 times the amount sufficient to kill.

Today, his father, also called Paul, warned other young people not to experiment with sniffing gas.

He had not even known his son was involved with gas sniffing until his death.

Mr Fitzpatrick senior, a former landlord at the Wellington pub in Farnworth, said after the Bolton inquest: "There were more than 100 young people at the funeral and I asked the vicar to warn them about sniffing butane gas. "My message is 'don't do it'. We don't want any more people dying so young."

Paul Fitzpatrick, who moved to Farnworth in 1988 with his family, had returned from university to spend a week with his family in Bolton at the end of January this year.

The former George Tomlinson Secondary School pupil was staying at his brother's flat in Westwood Close, Farnworth.

On February 1 he invited some of his friends around to the apartment and they spent the evening drinking, playing computer games and watching films.

Friend Samuel Gallimore, who met Paul at Bolton College, said his pal had seemed fine during the evening.

But he told yesterday's inquest that he had known his mate had abused butane gas in the past. It was at 8am the next day that Paul's brother Carl, 19, returned from a night shift to find Paul slumped half on the settee and half on the floor.

He phoned the paramedics but his older brother was already dead.

A post-mortem later revealed that there was 1.76mg of butane in his blood. Past tests have shown 0.1mg can kill. Propane was also found.

His parents were not aware he had ever experimented with sniffing butane gas.

His mother, Margaret Hoskins, of Hulme Road, Radcliffe, described her son at the hearing as "a very loving, caring person".

She also said she remembered one occasion when she had entered his bedroom and it smelled strongly of hairspray but she thought nothing more of it.

Paul's father added that his son was outgoing and had many friends -- a coach full of students from Hull had travelled to his funeral.

Acting coroner Simon Nelson, who recorded a verdict of death by misadventure, said: "These substances are extremely dangerous, especially in the hands of those who are not aware as to the tragic consequences of inhalation of these gases."