Burnley homeless man died from drugs and alcohol poisoning (From Burnley and Pendle Citizen)

Burnley homeless man died from drugs and alcohol poisoning

11:30am Wednesday 30th January 2013 in Burnley By Chris Gee, Reporter

A HOMELESS man found dead in a tent in Towneley Park last summer died from drugs and alcohol poisoning, and inquest heard.

Shane Flynn, 42, who a few days previously had left his rented accommodation after his lease expired, had been staying in the tent when he died on June 15.

A hearing at Burnley Magistrates’ Court was told Mr Flynn had been a heroin user, but had been put on a methadone treatment programme. He had been attending the substance misuse centre on Westgate in Burnley from where he received prescriptions.

In a statement read to the court, witness Adrian Harrington said that he had been friends with Mr Flynn for 15 months and they had something in common as they were both attempting to come off heroin.

He said Mr Flynn had been staying in the tent in the historic park since June 13 and on the day in question the pair had shared a bag of heroin and had consumed several cans of super strength lager.

At about 4.30pm they went to Burnley town centre to buy food and later bought more drugs.

On returning to the tent Mr Flynn consumed a full £10 bag of the drug and immediately “jerked and fell back” before becoming unresponsive.

He was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital but could not be saved.

A post-mortem examination, carried out by Dr Walid Salman, concluded that the cause of death was combined heroin, alcohol, methadone and tranquiliser toxicity.

East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: “Mr Flynn had a number of difficulties. He succumbed to using again and his tolerance could have been reduced.”