Man spent inheritance on crack cocaine before death

A man spent €30,000 on crack cocaine in the weeks before his death after receiving an inheritance from his mother’s estate, an inquest heard yesterday.

Derek Olin, aged 40, was found dead at his basement flat on North Great Charles St in north inner city Dublin on Sep 29 last year. The father-of-five had taken a combination of cocaine, methadone, and sedatives in the hours before his death.

His brother Anthony Olin told the court that his brother had taken drugs for more than two decades, but in the last 10 years he had stabilised while on the methadone programme.

He had not been fit to work but had been surviving on €200 a week and assistance from the family. “He never had the money for cocaine,” said Mr Olin.

However, in the weeks before his death, the deceased received a “significant inheritance” from his mother’s estate and within days had started taking crack cocaine.

Mr Olin told the court that his brother spent €30,000 in the six weeks before his death, with bank account records showing that he was withdrawing €1,500 every two days.

Text messages on his phone showed him contacting a drug dealer looking to buy “six rocks” at 5.30am on Sep 28, the day before his body was found.

He was last seen at his flat at around 3.45pm that afternoon, looking sedated and unresponsive. He was found dead in an armchair in his home by a worker at the flat complex the following morning.

The autopsy found that Mr Olin had taken a cocktail of drugs in the hours before his death, including cocaine, methadone, and a number of sedatives. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell gave the cause of death as cardio-respiratory failure due to the combined effects of the drugs.