An inquest into his death was told this week that Mr Richards had spent time in and out of prison for various offences.
His most recent spell behind bars was for a nasty assault on a long-time girlfriend, who he slapped and threw around “like a ragdoll”.
Mr Richards had told prison workers he wanted help with his drug misuse after his release on February 19, and was given travel warrants to allow him to attend appointments with charities and addiction groups.
He was taken to a house in Westgate-on-Sea and spent the following morning with his dad, before travellling to Canterbury, where he had been due to meet with the Forward Trust as part of his recovery process.
Instead, he met up with members of the local drinking community and declared he wanted “a blowout” to celebrate his newfound freedom.
In particular, he arranged to meet one friend, referred to as Mr Munn, for drinks in The Thomas Ingoldsby Wetherspoons.
The pair were separated twice from that point; the first time, Mr Richards went to an unknown location, and the second time, he went to a drug dealer’s house to buy crack cocaine and heroin alone.
The quantities were not known, but it is thought the drugs had cost in the region of £100.
Mr Richards told Mr Munn he had taken heroin the day before, and in the early evening, they went to a property in Station Road West to smoke drugs and listen to music.
Mr Munn had noticed Mr Richards “slumped forward” a couple of hours later, felt for a pulse and heard Richards snoring.
As someone with a history of drug use, Mr Munn “felt this was a normal reaction from his past experience and had no cause for concern”.
Coroner Sarah Clarke said: “A short while later, this snoring turned to what Mr Munn described as a groaning coming from Sam, as if he might have been in some pain.
“He called an ambulance immediately.
“Whilst on the phone, Sam started to vomit and he was placed in a recovery position by Mr Munn.
“The paramedics arrived very shortly after the call.
“Mr Munn said he believed Sam was breathing when the ambulance arrived.
“The paramedics attempted to treat and save Sam’s life, however, he was confirmed deceased at 8.20pm in the evening.”
No criminal investigation was pursued, and Mr Munn was treated as a witness, partly due to his co-operation with emergency services.
The cause of death was given as multi-drug toxicity, with potentially fatal levels of cocaine and morphine – which is used to make heroin – discovered during toxicology tests.
A father to four boys, Mr Richards was in contact with them, though the extent to which was unknown, while it is understood he was estranged from his only daughter.
Mr Richards was born on May 15, 1981, and had been known to the police since he was 17 years old.
We are satisfied that Sam’s offender manager took appropriate measures to address his substance use following his release from prison…
In a report prepared for the coroner, the Prison and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) said it had no recommendations for what it could do better as it was felt everything that could have been done for Mr Richards was.
It was heard he had been “thankful” to staff working with him in the weeks before his release.
“Mr Richards was offered appropriate support with his substance use issue whilst at Elmley,” said the PPO report.
“He was also appropriately referred to the Forward Trust prior to his release so that he had access to substance use support after release.
“We are satisfied that Sam’s offender manager took appropriate measures to address his substance use following his release from prison, which included appropriate post-sentence supervision conditions.
“We are satisfied that both the prison and the probation service did all they could to manage the risks associated with Sam’s substance use issues.”
