| Share with : |
Close
|
 - del.icio.us
|
 - Digg
|
 - Facebook
|
 - reddit
|
 - StumbleUpon
|
 - Twitter
|
KENT NEWS: A man who died in his sleep was killed by an accidental drugs overdose, an inquest has heard.
The court at Maidstone County Hall was told how 29-year-old Steven Reach, formally Steven Swift, was found unconscious in bed by his civil partner, also named Steven Reach.
Mr Swift, of Everest Drive, Hoo, was later confirmed dead at Medway Maritime Hospital.
A verdict of death by misadventure was ruled by coroner Roger Sykes.
In a statement from his partner, it was revealed that Mr Swift, a senior support officer, had suffered with depression for some time and was on a significant amount of medication.
The pair had been married for three years and Mr Reach explained that his partner had previously been known to over medicate and fall unconscious.
Emergency services had also been called to help Mr Swift when he could not be woken in the past.
Mr Reach's statement said: "It happened frequently that the drugs which should last him a month would only last a week. The first week of the month would be hard on our relationship and the next three weeks would be brilliant."
"I knew he had tried to kill himself in the past but never since we were together."
After dinner one night Mr Swift went to bed early as he would normally do and Mr Reach followed him later on. During the night Mr Reach woke to find his partner not breathing and he could not wake him.
After calling the emergency services, Mr Reach tried to resuscitate Mr Swift while on the phone but was unable to do so. Paramedics then arrived at the flat they shared and took Mr Swift to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Police also seized up to 2,000 pills and a number of empty pill bottles from the house which Mr Swift had been keeping in a bed side cabinet.
Pathologist Dr David Rouse carried out the post mortem and found traces of a number of anti-depressant drugs in Mr Swift's body.
He said that there were no signs of any external injuries and no alcohol in his bloodstream but a number of prescription drugs that could be within "toxic range" were found.
He added: "These drugs are sedatives and can lead to a depression of the respiratory function. It would seem that there was a progressive inability to maintain the airways. This led to death."
Coroner Roger Sykes concluded: "The cause of death is related to the ingestion of a quantity of tablets.
"He had a history of taking too many tablets and suffered ill effects. The outcome was his death.
"There is no evidence to support the case that he was harming himself or committing suicide. Therefore I conclude with a verdict of death by misadventure."
POSTED: 25/08/2010 09:00:00