A 27-year-old man tragically died after taking nearly three times the fatal level of cocaine, an inquest has heard.
The Final Hours
Kyle Oldfield collapsed suddenly at around 9pm on April 25 and was later confirmed dead at the scene in Stoke-on-Trent.
The young man had begun taking drugs at his home on Downey Street in Hanley before becoming ill at a friend's house on Stanley Street in Tunstall later that day.
His flatmate described how Kyle had visited his room at around 10am that morning, appearing depressed and upset about a close family member's arrest and relationship issues.
Failed Intervention
The flatmate told the hearing: "He began sniffing a few lines of what I believed to be ketamine off a fold-out mirror covered in white powder. I tried to stop him by telling him not to do it, but he did it anyway."
"I always tried to stop him when I saw him with drugs. I helped to get him clean from cocaine as he was addicted to it by convincing him to cut off contact with the people he had been hanging out with."
Tragically, Kyle left the flat without saying where he was going, with his flatmate suspecting he was visiting the friends he had previously cut contact with.
Later analysis revealed the mirror was coated in a mixture of cocaine, ketamine and paracetamol.
Medical Evidence and Conclusion
DC Manu Farah told the inquest that Kyle's friends reported he had visited their address to discuss plans to move in with them in the near future before his health suddenly deteriorated.
"They described him undergoing a rapid decline," DC Farah said. "Kyle collapsed and they thought he'd passed out. They put a pillow under him and hoped he'd recover on his own."
The friends eventually called another friend who arrived at 9.12pm and immediately called an ambulance. Kyle had complained that his heart rate felt too quick and that he felt like he was suffering a heart attack.
A toxicology report confirmed Kyle had nearly three times the fatal level of cocaine in his system alongside trace amounts of ketamine.
Coroner Lindsey Tonks recorded a drug-related death, specifically ruling out suicide. She noted that Kyle had been making future plans to move in with friends and could have taken his life at his own flat if that had been his intention.
"All I can do is offer my sincere condolences to you as a family for going through this situation," she concluded. "It appears that Kyle used drugs to get away from what was going on in his mind."
Dr Tamisha Singh of Harley Street Medical Centre confirmed Kyle had been using antidepressants to help deal with depression, anxiety and PTSD, and while he had a history of self-harm, he had not expressed suicidal thoughts.
