Alcohol a factor in death of man found near bins in Killarney

AN inquest into the death of a man, who regularly slept in the bin room of The Courtyard Apartments in Fairhill Killarney, has found that he died as a result of acute alcohol intoxication.

A toxicology report gave a reading of 527mgms which was described as a “lethal range”.

41-year-old Robert Tatarczuch, with a last known address at 30 Bruach na Habhann, Killarney, died at the apartments on March 19, 2018.

The inquest heard that, on March 18, he had been told to move on by Gardaí.

The next day, March 19, Jacek Marieszek who lives at 26 Courtyard Apartments, opened the bin area and saw a man lying down at the end of the room. In his deputation he said he had also seen the man the previous day.

At around 11.50am when he returned home again, he met another neighbour who asked him if he had seen the man in the bin area. She believed he had a funny colour. He went in and saw that he had not moved from earlier. He told the inquest that the man had been there “many times” but that he had no problems with anyone.

Deirdre Browne, of Apartment 23, in her deputation, said that she had seen the man when she went to put rubbish in the bins and presumed he was asleep. She didn’t disturb him but phoned gardaí after another neighbour said he had not moved since the morning.

Gardaí Ryan, in his deputation, said that he found “an unresponsive male” in the storage area. He was lying on cardboard at the rear and was fully clothed with a hat and his face was covered. There was a bottle of gin behind him. He said that he was cold and that he could not find a pulse and he commenced CPR until the ambulance arrived.

He said that he knew the man but that he had not seen him for a while as he had been in jail. A verdict of misadventure due to acute alcohol intoxication was returned by the jury.