Alcohol played key role in deadly house fire

ALCOHOL played a key role in the death of a woman in a house fire in Cork last year, an inquest heard yesterday.

Cork Coroner’s Court was told that Mary Casey, 57, of Mary Aikenhead Place, had more than the average person’s fatal dose of alcohol in her system when she died following the fire at Margaret McCarthy’s house on St Enda’s Road, Gurranabraher, on November 22. Ms Casey died at the scene while Ms McCarthy was pulled unconscious from the blaze. She told the court she remembers little about the night.

A post mortem established that Ms Casey had 388 milligrams of alcohol in her system. Assistant State pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, said 350 milligrams of alcohol is a fatal dose for an average person.