‘A VERY SAD STORY’ AS SISTERS DIE WITHIN DAY OF EACH OTHER

Kelly and Sharon were both mums of three

SISTERS Kelly and Sharon Marshall died within a day of each other as a result of taking drugs.

Mum-of-three Kelly was pronounced dead at her Shelton home on November 8.

And the following morning, emergency services were called to the Meir home of Sharon, also a mum of three, where they discovered the 46-year-old had passed away.

Now inquests have heard the sisters died within days of the anniversary of their brother Michael’s death.

Their mother, Linda Marshall, said in a statement that she last saw 40-yearold Kelly on November 6.

The statement read: “Kelly came to my house. She seemed fine in herself apart from her legs had been swelling up.

“She agreed to come to the park with the family the next day for the anniversary of Michael’s death. She didn’t make it but that wasn’t unusual.

“She started taking drugs when she was 13. In the end she was taking heroin and anything else she could get her hands on.”

Kelly was living with her friend Wayne Dowley in Davis Street, Shelton, at the time of her death.

In his statement, he said they had watched TV on the evening of November 7 before he went to bed.

When he got up the next morning, Kelly was still on the sofa.

He said: “Kelly did not move or wake up when I came in. I thought she was asleep. I tried to speak to her a couple of times but she didn’t reply. There were needles on the floor in front of Kelly that weren’t there when I went to bed.”

Kelly’s partner then came downstairs and both men became concerned when they could not wake her. Paramedics were called and Kelly was pronounced dead.

Tests revealed she had a number of drugs in her system, including heroin.

The cause of her death was recorded as heroin toxicity exacerbated by nitrazepam – which she was prescribed – and pregabalin.

The inquests heard Sharon had been using drugs since she was 15, and in recent years had started taking monkey dust.

Paramedics were called to her flat in Weston Road, Meir, and found her on the sofa. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tests showed she had taken a number of drugs, including heroin and alpha-php. The cause of death was given as combined opiate and alpha-php toxicity and bronchopneumonia.

The inquest heard Sharon’s partner had died in 2018 from a drug overdose, a short time before her brother’s death.

Assistant coroner Margaret Jones concluded that Kelly and Sharon’s deaths were drug-related.

She said: “I’ve heard a very sad story that they had been involved with drugs for a great deal of their lives.

“I also heard about this particular dangerous ‘designer’ drug that Sharon was taking.

“We don’t know what it does, it behaves differently and it changes frequently.

“I would encourage people not to take drugs at all, but particularly not this designer drug.”