Inquest told that young man took at least three ecstasy pills before concert

A young man who collapsed at the Swedish House Mafia gig in the Phoenix Park last year took at least three ecstasy tablets before going into the concert, an inquest heard.

Lee Scanlon (20), Sorrel Heath, Clonsilla, Dublin, went into cardiac arrest as he arrived at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, on July 7th last year after collapsing in a Portaloo at the gig.

He was overheating so much when medics attended to him in the Phoenix Park he maxed out their thermometers, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

His father Leo Scanlon broke down as he told the court that he was aware that his son had a problem with tablets but had been off drugs for three months before his death. The family were initially unconcerned when Lee did not return home following the concert because this was not unusual. His mother texted him but received no reply.

The court heard that initially Lee was wrongly named and another man’s father was called in to identify the body.

The family became concerned on seeing reports of trouble at the concert. His grandaunt contacted gardaí and gave a description. His father later identified the body at Connolly hospital.

He attended the concert with three other friends, one of whom told police that Lee took three ecstasy tablets before going into the gig and had five more on him.

Daire Bligh met the group before they went in and said that Lee looked “out of it”. “He was pale, his eyes were wide open and the pupils on him. He looked to me like he had taken ecstasy,” he said.

Lee had been at the concert for an hour when security staff alerted first-aiders that he had collapsed in the Portaloos near the stage. He was taken to the medical tent where staff tried to treat him but he was “thrashing around”.

After he was sedated, they attempted to take his temperature but it was so high it could not be read on a normal thermometer. They immediately began cooling him down and called for an ambulance. However, as the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Lee stopped breathing and attempts to resuscitate him failed.

The postmortem found that he died as a result of ecstasy toxicity. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said that ecstasy deaths were not dose-related but noted that the level of the drug in his system was significant.

Det Garda Brendan O’Hora said the origin of the drugs had not been sourced.

Dr Farrell returned a verdict of death by misadventure.