Surrounded by sleeping pills, anti-depressants and empty bottles of cough syrup, these are the bodies of two British newly-weds found dead in an Indian hotel. Police say James and Alex Gaskell – both teachers with first-class degrees – died of an overdose in their locked room near the Taj Mahal. A guide book, travel bag, mobile phone and other holiday paraphernalia can be seen on their double bed. The shocking scene is a stark contrast to the happy image that Mrs Gaskell, 24, had posted a few days earlier of the couple smiling in front of a temple in Delhi. Her 27-year-old husband had posted a series of messages on Twitter outlining his casual attitude to drugs. His final tweet, on Sunday, two days before their bodies were found, said how easy they were to obtain in India. ‘Codeine under the counter here. With Valium, Xanax and Lyrica. Winning,’ he wrote. Earlier he said: ‘One prescription in India (after you have told the doctor what to write) will take you faaaaaar...’ In another post he said: ‘I am absolutely off my face on drugs.’ Tragic waste: Mr Gaskell pictured as a schoolboy India is a popular destination for drugs tourists keen to acquire powerful prescription medicines from chemists, with few questions asked. It is unclear whether the couple died from an overdose of prescription drugs or from another substance. Although Mr Gaskell made no secret of his craving for pills, relatives of his wife insisted yesterday she was anti-drugs. The couple, who married last November, were found dead in the Hotel Maya in Agra. As well as strips of coloured capsules, police discovered a prescription for the anti-anxiety drug diazepam. Mr Gaskell was found lying on his side while his wife was slumped in a crouched position. There was evidence in the room that one or both of them had been sick. Rajesh Gupta, who owns the hotel which is a popular haunt for backpackers, said the couple checked in on Monday night. He said: ‘Later they ordered the dinner at 9pm and by 10pm our room service went with dinner. He knocked on the door and James Gaskell opened the door and took the dinner – he didn’t allow our employee inside the room and closed the door. ‘They booked only for one night and were supposed to inform us about an extended stay. ‘When they didn’t come down, our hotel staff knocked their door at 11:30 am on Tuesday, but there was no response and door was locked inside. He informed the manager quickly who later informed the police. ‘Later police arrived and found that both were dead on the bed. Both the television and air conditioner were on. ‘He seemed stable, calm, alert and walked well. It was a medicine that I just continued to give him; it wasn’t a new prescription. He was very well informed about the medicine and I felt he knew what he was doing.’ Mrs Gaskell’s stepfather Greg Pike told the Mail that her husband took drugs to treat depression. ‘This wasn’t two young people on a drug-fuelled trip around India,’ he insisted. ‘They went to there to experience the Indian way of life and the culture. ‘Alex has always been very wary of drugs and drug culture. She just wasn’t interested.’ The 67-year-old architect added: ‘James was a very intense young guy. He had really strong views about social injustice and there were a lot of things in the world he was unhappy about. He was like a student from the 60s. ‘It’s no secret that James had bouts of depression. That maybe came from all the things that he had going around in his head. I know he had taken anti-depressants while out in India.’ Mr Pike, of Marple Bridge, Cheshire said: ‘They had been planning the trip to India for some time and we were surprised when they decided to get married first. It seemed an old-fashioned idea.’ The couple both taught languages at Manchester International College and wanted to teach English abroad on an extended work-holiday that would take in Indonesia. ‘It wasn’t just a holiday, they planned to be away for some time,’ said Mr Pike. Mrs Gaskell’s mother, Anna-Louise, 46, was said to be too upset to speak last night. Mr Gaskell’s mother Ann Palmer, who runs a consultancy business, refused to comment at her home near Sevenoaks in Kent. His father Phil, who lives in Wilmslow, Cheshire, posted on Facebook: ‘I can’t understand how I should feel at the moment, my mind is blank. Just very sad.’ Family member Diane Gaskell said on Facebook – beneath a picture of James as a schoolboy: ‘He was a cutie, and when I see him and Alex at their wedding reception never in a million years would I have dreamed this would happen. I created this video with the YouTube Slideshow Creator (http://www.youtube.com/upload)

• published: 23 Oct 2014
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