A MAN who died at a friend’s home in Rhosesmor had consumed a number of drugs in the lead-up to his death, an inquest concluded.

Dominic Graham died aged 47 on February 26, having been found unresponsive by Mairwen Owen, his friend whose home he was staying at.

At a full inquest into his death, held in Ruthin today (October 10),  Kate Robertson, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a conclusion of a drug-related death.

His cause of death was given as pulmonary embolism and cocaine and methadone toxicity, contributed to by left ventricular hypertrophy and bronchopneumonia.

Ms Robertson said there was no evidence of “any intent to end his life” from Mr Graham.

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The inquest heard that Mr Graham, born in Bangor, was “never one for going to the doctor, but was never an ill person,” according to his sister, Joanna Davies.

He was “such a hard worker”, Ms Davies said, often working seven days a week for the civil engineering firm who employed him at the time of his death.

She learnt that, on February 23, Mr Graham had a pain in his side, which led to him taking the next day off work.

On February 24, he took over-the-counter paracetamol, before visiting a pub later that day.

That evening, he took a taxi to the Rhosesmor home of his friend, Mairwen Owen, where he ultimately was pronounced dead two days later.

“He was loving his life, and his death was a shock to us all,” Ms Davies said.

“He is missed by all of the family.”

Police Constable Andrea Lawrence attended Ms Owen’s address at about 1.20pm on February 26 with another officer, and found Mr Graham lying flat on his back in the single-storey flat.

Chest compressions were being undertaken by paramedics already present.

Ms Owen told PC Lawrence she had know Mr Graham for about 40 years since their school days, and that he presented to her as under the influence of cocaine on February 24.

His condition had gradually deteriorated to the extent that she put him to bed, checking on him hourly on February 25.

After he no longer responded to her on February 26, she made an emergency 999 call, but he was pronounced dead later that day.

Pathologist Dr Zain Medhi, in undertaking Mr Graham’s post-mortem examination on February 28, found evidence of bronchopneumonia and pulmonary embolism.

Samples of his blood and urine showed the presence of morphine, methadone, two metabolites of cocaine, and one metabolite of heroin.

Though Dr Medhi said it was not possible to predict whether cocaine use caused Mr Graham’s death, he added that the high level of methadone could be considered consistent with an overdose or chronic therapeutic use.

Concluding, Ms Robertson told Mr Graham’s sister that his “death has probably been hastened by the taking of the illicit drugs identified in his blood and urine”.

She added: “When he has taken them isn’t a question that I can certainly answer. It’s difficult to know exactly the extent of when he consumed what he consumed.

“I realise fully that not having those answers doesn’t help with your grief, and with coming to terms with your loss.

“I’m sure that you miss your brother terribly, and I’m sure that the number of unanswered questions that remain will continue to be there, and I’m sorry that no inquest can answer all of those.”