Two men died following a cocaine binge at a rented house, an inquest heard yesterday.
Laurence Ade Onojobi (20), Westhaven, Blanchardstown, and Roy Flynn (31), Village Green, Stamullen, Co Meath, were discovered lying on the living room floor by members of Dublin Fire Brigade following an emergency call to the Blanchardstown house, Dublin County Coroner's Court heard.
On October 15th at about 3.55pm, personnel with Dublin Fire Brigade, Coolmine, received a call that a person had collapsed.
Paul Burnell, a firefighter with Coolmine station, told the inquest that upon their arrival, another fire brigade was already on the scene and members of the emergency services were performing CPR on a man lying on the ground.
He said when they lifted Mr Flynn on to the stretcher, "white powder" was clearly visible. There was also "white powder" left in the stretcher when he was removed.
Mr Burnell said Mr Onojobi was also on the floor in a "semi-conscious state. He was mumbling and was incoherent. The other person was showing no signs of life."
Both men were taken to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, where they were pronounced dead. Postmortems identified the cause of death in both cases as heart failure caused by cocaine toxicity.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty recorded a verdict of death by misadventure in both cases.
Another inquest heard that Gerard Browne (30), Drumcairn Gardens, Tallaght, was discovered dead by his mother last September 25th.
A postmortem found the cause of death to be a drug overdose from the combined effects of three drugs, which included cocaine and methadone.
The court heard that Mr Browne went to visit his girlfriend on September 24th and his mother heard him return home about 10.30pm. Frances Browne told the court he was in good form and asked for a wake-up call at 6am.
When Ms Browne went into his room to call him the next morning, she found him on the floor. She called the emergency services and Mr Browne was taken to Tallaght hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A postmortem found the cause of death as drug overdose from the combined effects of three drugs including cocaine and methadone.
Ms Brown said she was aware her son was taking drugs.
Dr Geraghty returned a verdict of misadventure. He told the court the public should be made aware what a dangerous drug cocaine is.