Heroin death of man after overdose
HEROIN claimed another life in Runcorn when a man overdosed at home, an inquest heard.
Marc Alan Gorry, 29, of Cunningham House, Cunningham Drive, Runcorn, died after taking heroin and crack in his topfloor flat on April 22, witnesses told the hearing at Warrington Coroner’s Office.
He had gone to the flat with two acquaintances ‘for a smoke’ after being released from custody that morning.
John Valls and Thomas Humphries said that Mr Gorry had been in the kitchen on his own and was presumed to have injected drugs.
Mr Valls said he had seen Mr Gorry prepare heroin and crack on a spoon with vinegar.
When Mr Gorry emerged from the kitchen he sat or lay down and became ill.
Mr Valls said he was shaking as though he was having a fit while Mr Humphries said he had not looked well, was unsteady on his feet, and asked them to leave, lay down and ‘looked like he wanted to sleep’.
They left, leaving the door open for medical access, and called for an ambulance from a phone box.
Mr Valls suspected an overdose.
Helena Robertson, a neighbour on the ground floor, heard a groan and saw two men run past the window.
She and a man, Barry Lane, tried to resuscitate Mr Gorry.
Alan Moore, assistant coroner for Cheshire, said paramedics ‘worked very hard’ on Mr Gorry to save him but he was declared dead at 7.38pm.
Police, including DC Katie Wardle and PC Gareth Edwards, ruled out foul play and found no illicit drugs.
Asked for an outline of Mr Gorry’s movements, DC Wardle said he had been in court on April 22 over theft from an ambulance and damaging a TV in hospital after an overdose over the previous two days.
After his death, toxicology tests found Mr Gorry had consumed heroin, cocaine and amphetamine but also multiple prescription medications including tramadol, pregabalin and diazepam. There was no alcohol. Toxicology also found levamisole, a deworming drug sometimes used to cut cocaine.
Doses of substances were found to be low, recreational or medical, except for heroin, with his blood containing 412 milligrams of morphine and metabolites per litre.
A post mortem examination concluded that he died from heroin toxicity, possibly exacerbated by other drugs.
The hearing on Thursday, October 20 was told that Mr Gorry had suffered from depression, anxiety and adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and may have used drugs to ‘self medicate’.
His mother, Sandra Gorry, said he had been ‘impulsive’ and lived a ‘chaotic life’.
She said he had always found it difficult to concentrate and she had tried to find a diagnosis when he was young but he would be hard to find for appointments.
It had been difficult to get him to have a normal life but she thought the drugs made him feel better.
The inquest heard that Mr Gorry had experienced previous overdoses and had harmed himself and expressed a desire to take his life.
Mr Moore, presiding, said he did not believe he intended to take his life on April 22.
Mr Gorry had been born Marc Alan Bridson at Whiston Hospital in 1986. He was single, unemployed and claiming disability benefit as he was registered disabled at the time of his death.
Mr Moore concluded the cause of death to be drugrelated, heroin toxicity.
In his summary, he said: “I can’t be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt he intended to take his own life and I would be very surprised if that was the case, although he had previous ● episodes of self-harm, jumping off a balcony and I’m satisfied that is all related to the impulsive behaviour and perhaps his diagnosis of ADHD, he was intending to harm himself but not kill himself.
“So I’m satisfied with the evidence I’ve heard that these overdoses, numerous though they were, were more likely than not deliberate, impulsive behaviour, similar to the selfharm or Marc simply trying to manage his low mood and depression and ADHD trying to self-medicate. using his own preferred combination of medication and illicit drugs.”
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