A man who lost his life while in Garda custody died from a combination of alcohol and tranquilliser intake, along with acute respiratory and heart complications, an inquest heard yesterday.
Thomas Corcoran (59), with an address at the men's hostel in Lady Lane, Waterford, died within three hours of being arrested in the city last November, the Coroner's Court in Waterford was told.
Gardaí launched an internal inquiry, under the supervision of Supt Pat Clavin of Lucan Garda station.
A jury of four men and four women agreed with State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy's findings that Mr Corcoran's death was "multi-factoral" and recorded death from "acute alcohol and diazepam intoxication and acute upper respiratory infection with cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy".
Originally from Glengoole in Co Tipperary, Mr Corcoran had worked as a stonemason in the past and had been living in Waterford city for some months before his death.
A postmortem examination by Dr Cassidy revealed that the deceased had an enlarged heart and had been suffering with bronchitis. A fractured rib was consistent with resuscitation efforts, it emerged.
Dr Cassidy said the amount of alcohol found in the blood would not alone have been likely to kill him.
The deceased had been taking tranquilliser drugs, which with alcohol, could be a "lethal combination".
