BUT for the grace of God there could have been inquests into four deaths in Westport yesterday instead of one, the coroner said at the inquest into the death of Justin Clark yesterday.
Mr John O'Dwyer, solicitor and coroner for south Mayo, made his remarks after the jury brought in a verdict of death through non dependent abuse of drugs on Justin Clark (18), who died of a morphine overdose in Spencer Street, Castlebar on August 12th last.
"This is the second inquest I have conducted in the past 12 months on a young man who died as a result of a drug overdose," said Mr O'Dwyer. "People think that rural Ireland is insulated from this. It is not so. Rural towns are also affected."
The court heard Mr Clark had taken three 60 rug morphine tablets which he had got from Ian Burke. He had also drunk some Czech alcohol but no significant amount was found in his blood.
Ian Burke had taken four 100 rug tablets of morphine and two 60 rug tablets and had drunk, almost a bottle of gin. He had got the morphine tablets earlier in the house of his friend, Niall Carney, who had taken them from a bag, belonging to his father, a doctor.
Niall Carney had taken "at least four" 100 rug tablets and had drunk several cans of lager. Another friend, Justin Conlon, had also drunk several cans of lager, and took three 100 rug tablets and bone of 60 rug.
All three of them were very sick and vomited several times that night and the next day. Justin Clark had drunk very little and taken only about a third of the quantity of morphine consumed by Ian Burke and also considerably less alcohol and drugs than the other two boys. He did not vomit and died.