Inquest into the death of Helen (48) at her home

THE family of Helen Roche gathered at The Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy last week for the inquest into her death. Helen had passed away at her home, 18 Cois Eden Castlebridge, on January 30 last aged 48.

Present on the day was Helen’s partner Finbar Kierans and Inspector Sean Clince read from his sworn deposition. He stated that on the day of Helen’s death, he was carrying out work at the front of the house before painting the front door. Helen was in the kitchen and he noticed that she was pale and looked tired. He suggested that she go for a lie down and she did.

Mr Kierans said that usually Helen would have the television on in the bedroom and when he didn’t hear that or any movement from her bedroom for some time, he became concerned as Helen had a past history of taking fits.

It was at this point he went upstairs and discovered her lying face down on the bed. She had no pulse and Mr Kierans attempted CPR while calling out to Helen’s son, Paul Leacy who was downstairs helping, to call an ambulance. The paramedics again tried CPR when they arrived, but Ms Roche was eventually declared dead.

Pathologist at University Hospital Waterford, Dr Fergus McSweeney, told the inquest that there was present in Ms Roche’s system a lethal quantity of alcohol, mixed with therapeutic levels of codeine, which could come from painkillers such as Solpadeine. He said that mixture of the two, perhaps combined with previous minor heart issues, most likely resulted in the death.

County Coroner Dr Sean Nixon said that it was quite possible that Ms Roche had ingested such levels of alcohol before and survived, however, the mix of codeine and other factors meant that there always would have been a risk.

He then recommended a verdict of death by misadventure, which he outlined was the ‘unintended outcome of an intended act’. The jury agreed and all present expressed their sympathies to Mr Kierans and the Roche family. DETAILS of a tragic farming accident were heard as the inquest into the death of Philip Furlong (84) of The Boola, Adamstown, took place last week.

Mr Furlong lost his life on January 2 last when he was crushed by a piece of machinery which was being operated by his son Billy.

Billy Furlong and other members of the family were present at the inquest and Inspector Sean Clince read from his sworn deposition. In it, Mr Furlong said that his father, who lived next door on the farm, had been ill over Christmas, but was feeling better and was back out helping out with little things like the hens on the farm.

He continued that he talked to his father shortly after 8 a.m. that morning and saw him in the rear-view mirror as he locked the gate behind him. The deposition continued that Mr Furlong was reversing when he ‘felt two bumps under the wheels’. He got out of the vehicle and saw his father on the floor.

‘I knew he was dead,’ the deposition said. ‘I said an Act of Contrition in his ear and I rang the gardaí as I knew it was not an ambulance that he needed.’

Pathologist Dr Fergus McSweeney said that there were multiple severe injuries, multiple fractures and severe trauma to the skill and brain.

County Coroner Dr Sean Nixon pointed out that the injuries sustained would have resulted in an instantaneous death, before he suggested that the jury return a verdict of accidental death, which they did. Dr Nixon, Inspector Sean Clince and the foreman of the jury all offered their condolences to Billy and the rest of the Furlong family on their devastating loss.