Man took drugs before Liffey death

A man who drowned after jumping into the river Liffey at O’Connell Bridge had taken a head shop drug shortly before his death…

A man who drowned after jumping into the river Liffey at O’Connell Bridge had taken a head shop drug shortly before his death, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

Robert Fassnidge (34) of Nangor Crescent in Clondalkin died on January 22nd despite being dragged from the water. He drowned but had taken drugs.

Fassnidge, a father of one, had been arrested seven months before his death having been talked down from the railway bridge at Tara Street. He had been taking the head shop drug “snow-blow”, according to his family, having come off heroin two years earlier. He had a history of substance abuse and psychotic illness and would hear voices when not on medication, his mother told the court.

Garda Ian Walsh said head shop drugs were available on the streets and from other countries where the chemical compounds involved had not been banned. Deputy coroner Maria Colbert returned an open verdict.