Drug toxicity killed young mother

THE case of a motherof one who collapsed in the kitchen of her home after taking cocaine with her boyfriend and uncle, was one of four inquests into drug-related deaths heard at Dublin County Coroner’s Court yesterday.

Martina Griffin, 20, of Glenfield Avenue, Quarryvale, Clondalkin, Dublin, was discovered lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of their home on the afternoon of March 1, 2007, by her partner Shane Barrett.

Mr Barrett, who had got up early that morning to look after the couple’s 11-month-old baby, told the court Ms Griffin, her uncle, Stephen Griffin, and he had shared a half an ounce of cocaine together the previous night when he returned home from the pub.

The couple went to bed about 4am and Ms Griffin didn’t make any complaint of any sort, he said.

The following morning Mr Barrett got up at 8am to look after the baby and he went back to bed at 10am when Ms Griffin got up.

At 2pm, he said he found Ms Griffin lying in the kitchen. She wasn’t breathing. She was taken to Tallaght hospital where she was pronounced dead.

A postmortem revealed the mother of one had a significant amount of cocaine in her blood. The Dublin county coroner, Dr Kieran Geraghty, recorded a cause of death of acute cardiac failure due to cocaine toxicity.

A second inquest was told that Paul Eugene Caffrey died from cocaine while working in the Netherlands. The 29-year-old from Naas, Co Kildare, was found dead in his Utrect apartment on February 5, 2007 after concerned colleagues raised the alarm when he failed to show up for work.

Dr Geraghty recorded a cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia due to cocaine induced damage to his heart muscle and recent cocaine use.

The court was also told that Lee Caulfield, 26, of Kiltalawn View, Tallaght, died at Tallaght hospital six days after he fell into a drug induced coma at home after drinking a 100ml bottle of methadone.

His girlfriend, Marie Murphy, told the court Mr Caulfield, who had received treatment in the past for heroin addiction, used a €20 bag of heroin every two days and also took methadone. He died on July 13, 2007, of multi-organ failure due to an opiate overdose, the inquest heard.

Adam Leonard, 31, of Nutgrove Avenue, Rathfarnam, died of the combined toxic effects of heroin and alcohol, a fourth inquest into drug-related deaths heard. Mr Leonard was discovered by his mother and girlfriend, slumped on a living room couch of the couple’s apartment on April 25, 2007.