School officer died due to methadone
A SCHOOL support officer with a history of prescription drug addiction was found dead in bed after an apparent overdose, an inquest has heard.
Lee Sims, 31, was discovered unresponsive when girlfriend Rebecca Chappell tried to wake him at his Bridgend home on December 1 last year.
At an inquest held at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court, it was heard Mr Sims had returned home early from his job at special school Ysgol Bryn Castell two days before his death after an incident which saw him struck on the head by a pupil.
However, it was found that incident did not contribute to the father’s death after a toxicology report found his blood levels to contain a “significant” amount of methadone.
During written evidence summarised by the coroner, Ms Chappell said Mr Sims told her he was having a “bad time” and had come home early on November 29 after having a “chair thrown at him” by a pupil.
He woke the following morning complaining of a bad headache, and had vomited after taking a Nurofen, Ms Chappell said.
Later in the day Mr Sims complained of a bad stomach and said he could not remember driving to his partner’s address. The pair spent the night at Mr Sims’ home with Mr Sims’ sister. Paramedics were called when Mr Sims was found unresponsive the following morning.
In her evidence, Mr Sims’ mother Amanda Sims said she had phoned her son on November 29 after learning he had left work early.
Mr Sims told his mother a pupil, referred to as Pupil L, had “thrown a chair at my head” and that he was suffering from a headache.
During the hearing, Mr Sims was described by staff as a dedicated colleague who had “adored his children”.
Referring to the day of the incident at the school, staff members said there had been a “commotion” involving Mr Sims and Pupil L.
Gemma Llewellyn, special support officer at the school said she had attended Mr Sims’ classroom after hearing a noise.
She said: “Pupil L was shouting ‘come on, come on hit me’. Lee said, ‘Stop I am not going to hit you. You have just flipped tables, why have you flipped the tables?’ Pupil L tried to bump him in the chest. Pupil L tried this three or four times.”
Medical history read from Mr Sims’ doctor said the school worker had received treatment in 2016 for opiatetype drug dependency after injuring his back while playing rugby.
Mr Sims was last seen by doctors in September last year when he was described in a “low mood”, having previously suffered from anxiety and depression.
In her evidence, Mr Sims’ former wife Laura Sims said the school worker had taken Tramadol from 2014 due to a bad back and had been taking the painkiller “daily” by the following year.
In a statement, she said: “I think Lee always thought he was invincible as he had taken Tramadol for a number of years. Neither he nor I thought it would come to this.”
During his findings, South Wales assistant coroner David Reagan accepted Mr Sims’ medical cause of death as methadone toxicity.
Mr Reagan also accepted that Mr Sims had been struck to the head in the incident with Pupil L despite it taking place before witnesses attended the room. However, he said there was no medical evidence to suggest Mr Sims died as a result of the incident.
He said: “That incident was not causative to the death in this case.”
Describing Mr Sims as a “caring son, father, and partner”, Mr Reagan returned a conclusion of death due to a drug-related condition.