Search for witness to ecstasy death

GARDAÍ are still trying to trace a crucial witness as part of their investigation into the ecstasy-related death of a teenager.

Cork City Coroner’s Court was told yesterday that gardaí have yet to complete a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the death of 17-year-old Jonathan Kiely in Cork in 2007.

Inspector Ger O’Mahony said investigating officers have to trace a crucial witness, understood to be female, before the file can be completed.

The inquest has been adjourned several times in recent months while the investigation proceeds and Inspector O’Mahony applied yesterday for a further adjournment.

Dr Myra Cullinane agreed to put the inquest back until April 2 for mention.

Mr Kiely, of Avondale Court, Passage West, Cork was found collapsed in a cemetery in Passage West, Cork.

Despite desperate efforts by doctors to save him, he died on January 7, 2007 from massive brain swelling.

When the inquest in to his death was opened a few months later, it was told he died as a result of the ingestion of methylenedioxy-N-methyl amphetamine (MDMA) — the chemical name for ecstasy.

Assistant state pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said her examination confirmed that Mr Kiely died from severe cerebral oedema or swelling of the brain due to the ingestion of ecstasy.

The inquest was told that when ingested, ecstasy can elevate the body’s temperature to potentially lethal levels and can also cause severe dehydration and potentially fatal organ swelling.