A ‘KIND and caring’ university student was found dead by his housemates after they became concerned for his welfare.

Rajvinder Sidhu, 19 and known as Raj, was found unresponsive by his friends after they kicked down his bedroom door.

An inquest at Dorset Coroner’s Court heard that Raj was from Bracknell but lived in Bournemouth while studying forensic cyber security at university.

His family said in a tribute: "Raj is a beam of light with an infectious smile, humour, loves generously and goes out of his way for all those around him.

"He excelled in his course on track for a first honours degree, naturally curious and knowledgeable, worked part time alongside his studies and looked forward to future plans. 

"He is incredibly loved and missed every day by his family and friends following his sudden yet peaceful departure."

His mother, Nisha Sidhu, described him as an “extremely bubbly person” who was “kind, caring and had a huge personality”.

She said Raj loved sports, especially football and rugby, and had a great sense of humour, with a large circle of friends.

He joined Bournemouth University in September 2022 and moved into a shared house with five other boys in his second year.

His family would visit him twice a month, with them last seeing him on February 17.

Mrs Sidhu said he appeared normal and was looking forward to their family trip to Malaysia that April.

“I am absolutely devastated," she said. 

“I am heartbroken about losing my boy.

“We will never see his joy or hear his laugh again.”

Raj’s sister, Harvinder Armstrong, said he was “extremely close” with his siblings and only spoke positively about university.

Head of student wellbeing at BU, Kerry Randle, said there was no record of Raj reaching out for support and was an “academically able student”.

Housemate, Harry Waller, said in a statement to the court that Raj had been ordering medication from the internet but kept his drug use to himself.

However, he said the housemates could tell when he was under the influence and had noticed an increase in his use.

Finlay Mulvaney, who was also living in the house, said he saw Raj stumbling and slurring his words between midnight and 1am on February 19.

He told Raj he was using drugs too much and if he needed help he should go to him, to which Raj said he would.

At around 6pm that day, Finlay told Harry he had not heard from Raj and they should check on him.

However, after shouting and banging on his door, they had no response.

A third housemate said they realised something was wrong and started to panic, so rang 999.

Another housemate returned home from work and kicked down Raj’s door where he found him unresponsive.

Paramedics confirmed his death at 6.20pm.

Pathologist Dr Julianne Stolte conducted a postmortem examination and found Raj’s cause of death to be respiratory failure due to mixed drug intoxication.

Area coroner for Dorset, Brendan Allen, concluded Raj died of a drug-related death.