Overdose victim ‘did not necessarily intend to take his own life’
APAIN sufferer who had taken an overdose of prescribed medication did not necessarily intend to take his own life, a coroner ruled.
Adrian Ashurst, of Eastgate, Whitworth, was found dead at his step-father’s address on May 18 last year, just weeks after his mother passed away.
An inquest at Burnley Coroners Court heard that he suffered with depression, suicidal ideation, emotionally unstable personality disorder and opiate dependence and had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
A post-mortem examination found a mixture of prescribed pain medication in his system ‘within the range encountered in fatalities’.
The hearing was told that Mr Ashurst, 50, had lived with his mother until she passed away last April and he then moved in with his brother David.
Alan Haywood, a community mental health nurse, told the inquest that Mr Ashurst refused to engage with their services and their powers were then limited in what help they could provide.
He said: “Adrian didn’t feel he had a treatable mental illness. He felt his main problems were pain and pain manage- ment. When we tried to get him involved in a lot of activities he was very resistant.”
Mr Ashurst’s cousin Caroline Churnside told the inquest that their family had concerns about David’s ‘capacity’ to care for his brother because he is a ‘partial amputee’ and has his ‘own limitations’.
She said: “At no point was there any interjection from any other party. David would not throw his brother out on the street.
“[Mr Ashurst] had absolutely no counselling at the point that his mum died, which is just beyond me.
“When somebody dies you’ve got to be able to talk about it. I don’t think he meant to [kill himself ].”
Recording a narrative conclusion, Coroner Richard Taylor said: “He had mental health issues over a number of years and has been sectioned.
“I can’t say with any certainty that taking that amount of pain killer had the intention of ending his life.
“It would certainly have the effect of having him re-admitted to hospital but that wasn’t somewhere he wanted to be.
“I don’t have sufficient evidence before me to say this is a suicide.
“He has made a decision to take what he was taking but he was regularly looking for more pain killers.
“His doctor was concerned that he had an addiction and was using too much for what he needed.”
“I don’t have sufficient evidence before me to say this is a suicide”