A young Dublin man who took "a small amount" of cocaine while on a night out before Christmas died from cocaine-induced cardiac failure, an inquest heard yesterday.
Seán Walsh (22) of Fortfield Road, Terenure, was pronounced dead at Tallaght hospital at 2pm on December 22nd, 2006, a little over 24 hours after consuming the drug, an inquest at Dublin County Coroner's Court heard.
Mr Walsh met his friend, Lee Cullen, at the Old Mill pub in Tallaght at approximately 10pm on December 21st, the court heard.
At approximately 11pm, after Mr Walsh had consumed between four and six pints, the two went outside and took cocaine belonging to Mr Walsh.
Mr Cullen told the court that he took "a small bit" of the drug and that Mr Walsh, who took cocaine "the odd time", took the rest of the cocaine, described as being a small amount, smaller than what he would usually take.
A toxicology screening revealed that Mr Walsh died from cardiac failure due to cocaine cardiomyopathy.
Traces of methadone and diazepam were also found, which contributed to his death.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty recorded a verdict of death by misadventure. The court heard that after the pub, Mr Cullen and Mr Walsh returned to the home of Mr Cullen's parents at Allenton Avenue, Tallaght, to have a few drinks.
Between 2am and 3am Mr Cullen took a taxi home to Crumlin, where he lived with his grandfather. Mr Walsh remained at the house, talking to Mr Cullen's mother, Nuala Cullen.
Ms Cullen told the court that she repeatedly tried to get Mr Walsh to go to bed but he would not go. He accompanied Ms Cullen to the local shop between 8.30am and 9.30am and upon his return he fell asleep at the kitchen table and slid to the floor.
Ms Cullen and her husband contacted the emergency services and tried to resuscitate Mr Walsh.
"Each time I pressed on his chest a funny noise came out of his tummy and then a brown red liquid came out of his mouth and nose," she told the court.
Separately, Dublin County Coroner's Court heard that Frank Byrne (48) of Tower Street, Rush, Co Dublin, also died after taking cocaine. Mr Byrne's son, Paul, discovered his father dead in bed on the evening of February 26th this year.
A subsequent postmortem confirmed that Mr Byrne died from cardiac arrhythmia, secondary to severe coronary artery disease and cocaine use. The coroner returned a verdict of misadventure.