Man died from gas when he fell into slurry tank, inquest hears

Father-of-two Diarmuid Twomey died as a result of inhaling poisonous gas when he fell into a slurry tank while trying to make his way home in the early hours, an inquest has heard.

His disappearance just days before Christmas last year prompted a large search operation involving hundreds of volunteers.

Mr Twomey (31) died from inhaling hydrogen sulphide after he accidentally entered a slurry tank at Rahanisky, Whitechurch, Co Cork, during the hours of darkness early on December 20th, 2015, the inquest at South Cork Coroner's Court heard.

Mr Twomey’s partner, Ciara Byrne, told how they had been attending an 18th birthday party for Mr Byrne’s nephew, Jamie, on the night of December 19th but left the party at about 2.50m on December 20th to catch a taxi to their home at St Ben’s, Main Street, Carrignavar.

Ms Byrne told how when she flagged down a taxi at Closes's Road in Fairhill on Cork's northside, Mr Twomey said his stomach was not feeling right and that he would catch a taxi home 10 minutes later. They had been drinking but she did not believe Mr Twomey was very drunk, she said.

Taxi journey

Ms Byrne said that she rang him several times on her taxi journey home but he did not answer. When she woke up the following morning to discover that he had not come home, she thought he may have opted to stay with friends in Cork city.

Sgt Fergal O’Donovan said gardaí checked CCTV footage in Fairhill, the Blackstone Bridge and the Old Mallow Road areas which indicated a man matching Mr Twomey’s description between 3.23am and 4.10am when he was seen by eye witnesses on the Whitechurch Road on the 12km journey home.

One sighting by taxi driver Bill O’Sullivan placed Mr Twomey some 1.7km from Whitechurch village at about 4.35am walking towards Whitechurch. However a later sighting by taxi driver Philip O’Connell at 5.30am placed him closer to Cork city and walking back towards the city.

Sgt O’Donovan said a search was launched on December 20th when Margaret Leader found Mr Twomey’s mobile phone in her farm yard in Whitechurch . The search continued for several weeks involving gardaí, civil defence, search dogs, the Irish Coast Guard and hundreds of volunteers.

Body found

Farmer Philip McAuliffe – who lives 400m from the Leaders’ farm – told how he was draining a slurry tank on his farm at Rahanisky on January 28th when he noticed a body coming to the surface. Dental records confirmed it was Mr Twomey, the inquest heard.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said Mr Twomey died from inhaling hydrogen sulphide following his immersion in the slurry tank and he would have died quite rapidly. While he had a blood alcohol level of 154mgs, some of this could be due to decomposition.

Coroner for South Cork Frank O’Connell said that it was unclear how exactly Mr Twomey entered the slurry tank but he was satisfied it was accidental as it had happened during the hours of darkness, He extended his sympathy to Mr Twomey’s partner and family on their loss.