Pennington man Richard Wood died from illicit drug use, coroner rules
A LONG-term user of class A drugs died at his home in Pennington, an inquest heard.
Richard Wood (40), of South Street, was found by his partner on the floor of their bedroom just before 1am on 20th April last year.
Winchester Coroner’s Court heard Mr Wood, who was known as Rich, was a regular and heavy user of heroin and crack cocaine. He had been seen to inject heroin at around midnight, his partner told the court, before she fell asleep. However, when she woke a short while later she found him collapsed.
Despite a neighbour carrying out CPR until paramedics arrived, Mr Wood could not be revived.
A post mortem examination carried out by pathologist Dr Sanjay Jogai revealed levels of various illegal opioid drugs in his system. He gave a cause of death as illicit drug use combined with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A statement from Mr Wood’s GP explained he was a long-term drug user, who also smoked and suffered with asthma. Between 2015 and 2017 he had been “mostly off” street drugs, but began using again in 2018.
Over the years Mr Wood had sought help for his addiction and had been attending sessions with national organisation Inclusion until February of last year, the court heard.
Mr Wood’s parents, who attended the inquest, described him as “confident, bright, and extremely loving and caring.
He had begun taking drugs aged 17 or 18, they said, adding they had tried to help him get clean.
A former chef, Mr Wood most recently had been a carer for his partner.
The family also spoke of their disappointment at learning of their son’s death through Facebook, after police failed to inform them despite being his next of kin.
Recording a verdict that Mr Wood’s death was drugs related, assistant coroner Kiran Chahal-Musgrave said he had “a cocktail of drugs in his system”.
Noting that he came from “a loving, caring and supportive family”, she added: “Sadly, Mr Wood from his teenage years began to use illicit drugs and by 20 years old he was using heroin. Over the years he did seek help, and there were times he did so well and reacted positively to abstinence. Equally there were times this was not the case.”