Drug-user found dead in Rotherham hours after having contact with police & refusing medical help, inquest told
Police had no power to force a drug-user to seek help, though he died hours later
A drug-user was found dead less than 24 hours after police cancelled an ambulance and accepted his refusal to undergo medical checks, an inquest heard.
David Murray, aged 47, had previously slashed his wrists, causing serious injuries.
He told medics he had taken the drug spice at the time and had no memory of the incident, which happened at his mother’s home.
Mr Murray left hospital after those wounds were treated, in late October last year, but by November 7 was involved in a row with his mother, leading her to call police.
The inquest was told he had travelled to Leeds to buy ‘a bag’ of drugs, had taken some and was on the kitchen floor when officers arrived.
Mr Murray came around as police spoke to him, while colleagues arrived and spoke to his mother Annette Wright and other family members.
One officer had called an ambulance, but later cancelled it, because he rejected medical intervention.
Others offered to take him to hospital for medical checks, but this offer was also met with hostility.
Initially, it had been agreed Mr Murray would stay with a brother, but eventually his sister Nina Barnes arrived and took him to her home in Doe Quarry Terrace, Dinnington, Rotherham.
Although he was sleepy, he was breathing normally and she slept in the same room.
By the time she left for work on November 8, he was breathing but early in the afternoon she got a call from a friend staying with him to say he had stopped breathing.
Attempts to resuscitate him failed and paramedics confirmed his death, which a toxicologist confirmed was due to a combination of morphine and three other drugs, which contributed to a sedative effect.
Relatives at the hearing, held before Coroner Louse Slater, raised concerns that police did not arrest him or take further action on the evening of November 7.
They were also concerned that after police had been told he had taken “dangerous drugs” he was allowed to leave.
The inquest was told that his mother believed his life would have been saved had he been sectioned, placing him into mental health care.
South Yorkshire Police Chief Insp Mark Skelton was called to give evidence on the conduct of the four constables who attended that incident, at Mrs Wright’s home in Ditchingham Street, Burngreave, Sheffield.
He said those involved could have asked more probing questions of Mr Murray’s relatives around the background to the case and his condition.
But ultimately, Chf Insp Skelton said there was nothing officers could have done to detain him, because they had established he had mental capacity.
Mr Murray also understood the conversations he was having with police, and the potential implications of his own decisions, Chf Insp Skelton told the inquest.
That meant they had no powers to move forward wth any action to detain him.
The coroner recorded a finding of “drug-related death”, accepting that the combination of drugs was responsible.
The hearing was told it was not possible to know fully of Mr Murray’s actions overnight before his death.
Remaining drugs he had from the ‘bag’ obtained in Leeds had been seized by police before he left his mother’s home.
The coroner recorded no findings about police’s management of the incident on November 7.