Act quickly if a drug user snores as it may signify coma: coroner

A CORONER has urged friends of drug users to call an ambulance urgently if they hear them snoring — as it is a common sign that they are slipping into a coma.

Patrick McGurgan was speaking at the inquest into the death of Lisnaskea man Michael Leonard (27).

The coroner also said he had been moved by evidence from the dead man’s mother, and said he hoped that her brave decision to speak out could lead to someone’s life being saved.

Mr Leonard died on December 3, 2017, from a lethal dose of methadone combined with Alprazolam (commonly known as Xanax), pregabalin (often marketed under the brand name Lyrica) and diazepam.

Xanax and diazepam are benzodiazepines, and all three drugs are used to treat anxiety.

Mr Leonard’s partner told the court she heard him snoring loudly in the hours before he was discovered dead on the floor of her bedroom.

Mr McGurgan said one of the reasons he wanted the inquest to happen was to highlight the issue of snoring after someone has taken drugs.

He said: “Snoring is common when someone has taken drugs and it is common sign that the individual is slipping into a coma, and it is at this point an ambulance should be called immediately.

“A lot of people who are with people taking drugs don’t know this, but it is something I want the public to be aware of.”

Mr Leonard’s mother Lorraine told the court that he was one of 13 children and her first-born son.

She said he suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, had learning difficulties and paranoid schizophrenia, and had abused drugs from he was 16.

She had tried many times to get her son help and counselling with his drug addiction, but he wasn’t interested.

She said she noticed a big change in her son in the weeks before his death and was worried because she heard him on the phone discussing buying Xanax from “a guy in England”. Mr McGurgan pointed out that Xanax was not available on the NHS in Northern Ireland, so it was likely Mr Leonard was buying them illegally.

The court heard that Ms Leonard drove her son from Lisnaskea to Coleraine to his partner Jade Duggan, who was staying with her grandmother.

Ms Duggan told the court she had been prescribed methadone, and had been to the chemist, where she took a dose in front of the pharmacist and left with another to take the following day, a Sunday.

She said she put this in her handbag, which was in her bedroom when she went to bed around 10.30pm.

She told the court she woke and saw Mr Leonard lying on the floor snoring loudly, so she put a blanket over him and went back to sleep.

She woke at 3pm on December 3, when she discovered Mr Leonard dead on the floor.

Mr McGurgan found that Michael died from the toxic effects of methadone, Alprazolam, pregabalin and diazepam.