Dublin County Coroner's Court yesterday heard inquests into the cocaine-related deaths of three young people from west Dublin. One death was that of a young mother.
Jonathan Wilson (24) Brookview Walk, Tallaght, died after swallowing cocaine at his girlfriend Jennifer Sweeney's house on June 3rd, 2007. She told the court she came downstairs that morning to find her boyfriend standing in the hallway with a bag and a glass of water in his hand.
"He was putting the contents of the bag in his mouth and drinking water," she told the court. Fifteen minutes later he collapsed and Ms Sweeney called the emergency services.
By the time Mr Wilson arrived at Tallaght hospital he had no pulse, his heart had stopped beating, he was not breathing and his pupils were fixed and dilated, which indicated brain damage, Dr Asim Rafiq said.
The inquest heard that the cocaine Mr Wilson had ingested had caused an irregular heart beat, which in turn had resulted in a lack of oxygen to his brain.
Pathologist Dr Michael Wall, told the court Mr Wilson died of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy due to cardiac arrhythmia due to cocaine toxicity.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty returned a verdict of misadventure. "This is another tragic loss of a young life due to cocaine use".
The court also heard of a young mother who was found dead having also taken cocaine.
Caitríona Coburn (28), The Dingle, Wood Farm Acres, Palmerstown was discovered dead in bed in the mobile home in which she lived by her father on April 3rd, 2007. A bag of cocaine, a DVD rental card and a straw which tested positive for cocaine were found beside her.
Her young son, who lived with his mother in the mobile home beside the family home, was alone with her at the time.
Patrick Coburn told the court he found his daughter lying face-down on the bed, after her son told him she would not wake up.
A postmortem confirmed the presence of cocaine in Ms Coburn's system. She died of cardiac arrhythmia due to cocaine toxicity, the inquest heard.
The coroner returned a verdict of death by misadventure. "This is another tragic death of a young mother due to cocaine, one of a long list unfortunately," he said.
A third inquest heard of a youth who died of multi-organ failure when his serotonin levels became dramatically raised after taking a lethal level of cocaine and ecstasy.
Dean Freeman (17), Rossfield Park, Tallaght, was brought to Tallaght A&E at 8am on July 1st, 2006, after he collapsed during an all-night party with friends.
He died later that evening and a postmortem revealed that he had consumed a fatal cocktail of cocaine and ecstasy.
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy told the court that Mr Freeman died of serotonin syndrome, a condition where the serotonin levels are dramatically raised due to drug consumption.
It can cause irrevocable damage to the major organs, as well as coma, an increase in temperature and serious cardiac arrhythmia.
She said both the cocaine and ecstasy, which he had taken, had caused his serotonin levels to rise. The toxicology screening was also positive for benzodiazapines, sedative-type drugs.
Daryl Hall said he had been out drinking with friends, including Dean Freeman. Over the course of the night Mr Freeman had crushed two ecstasy tablets and had snorted them. He also took cocaine. At about 7am he collapsed in the garden.