Father says he didn't know of son's drug use

The brother of a Hamilton man who died after sniffing butane gas on Sunday knew about his drug use but didn't tell anyone.

Nicholas Grant Baxter, 23, died after he collapsed and began frothing at the mouth after inhaling butane while watching a movie at home.

Early reports said the family knew about Nicholas' drug use but his father Grant Baxter said only one family member knew.

"I have just found out our oldest son was a party to this and had elected not to tell us, their mum and dad," he said.

"It was a single family member who, as I said earlier, elected to keep this information from us."

Mr Baxter said he would have done something if he had found out.

"If we'd known we would've tried to help Nicholas. We could have done something about it, sought help," he said.

Sunday's tragedy was not the first for the family.

In 1996 Nicholas' sister, 18-year-old Amber, was one of five teenagers killed in a head-on crash with a truck south of Huntly.

"This is our second loss and it's pretty tough to bear," said Mr Baxter.

Nicholas Baxter's funeral will be held on Friday.

- NZPA