Newark man who collapsed outside Morrisons last year died of heart failure, rules coroner

A Newark man who was taking steps to address his drug addiction died of heart failure, a coroner has ruled.

Lee Crowden, 47, was found unresponsive outside of Morrisons in Newark on July 1, 2021, at around 8pm.

Supermarket staff rushed to his aid and a member of the public gave him CPR as emergency services made their way to the scene.

Giving evidence, Detective Constable James McDonnell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said officers were alerted to a Grade 1 incident — the most serious — and were there within minutes.

An air and a road ambulance also rushed to Mr Crowden and took over the CPR, and then used a cardiac arrest LUCAS device on him. But, despite the best efforts of those involved, he couldn't be saved.

He was identified by an ID card and pronounced dead at 9.28pm.

Coroner Fiona Gingell said Morrisons staff had said Mr Crowden was a regular outside of the supermarket — namely sitting outside Barnardo's charity shop on Slaughterhouse Lane.

The staff claimed to have seen him with a male on a mobility scooter earlier on in the day, and that a package had been transferred between them.

DC McDonnell said: "He had been seen there throughout the day and was seen at 7pm when he was speaking to the male on the scooter.

"Speaking to another male, he said Lee had been off to buy some alcohol from the Euro Supermarket around 7.30pm and bought one can of alcohol before he returned [to near Morrisons] via the New King Wah and spoke to another male in a doorway.

"He was then seen in a collapsed state after 8pm."

A man was arrested the next day on suspicion of drug supply, but searches of his phone and address discovered no evidence. Mr Crowden's mobile also had no evidence of drug supply.

Police concluded there were no suspicious circumstances around his death, or third party involvement.

Mr Crowden's GP practice, Lombard Medical Centre, last had contact with him June 29, just days before his death, for problems around his long-suffering asthma and recently-diagnosed high blood pressure.

The GP report, written by Dr Fenella Hickling on November 24, 2021, was read by the coroner.

"Lee had a history of drug misuse and there had been a period of years when he had been prescribed methadone which would have assisted him with his heroin use," said Miss Gingell.

"He also had a history of asthma, as well as deep vein thrombosis in 2003. There were some difficulties to do with alcohol and was diagnosed with anxiety and high blood pressure.

"In relation to more recent contact, the GP summarised he had been seen on May 21 as his asthma was poorly controlled."

Miss Gingell told the court the GP was then contacted by Change Grow Live (charity helping people with drugs and alcohol, housing, justice, health and well-being) which said Mr Crowden was asking for drug abuse support.

The GP last saw him on June 29 when Mr Crowden said his bag of medication had been stolen, so the doctor put him on weekly prescriptions.

Clair Thorpe, of Change Grow Live, said in her report that on May 20, Mr Crowden had asked for support to do with heroin, crack and alcohol abuse — and was on espranor (to help with opioid addition) every day and smoking heroin three times a week.

"There was never any suggestion of self harm or wanting to end his life, or any concerns over his mental capacity," said the coroner. "His last contact with these services was June 15 when he still reported using heroin and was speaking to agencies about his housing difficulties."

A toxicology report was completed by Dr Stephen Morley, who was asked to test Mr Crowden's blood and urine.

A small amount of alcohol was discovered, as well as drugs including quetiapine (anti-psychotic), diazepam (anxiolytic), and trace amounts of cocaine and morphine. He was also found to have taken pregabalin (anti-convulsant and anxiolytic) which he had prescribed, however, none of these drugs were taken in excess.

The final substance found was synthetic cannabis, known as spice, which the coroner said could cause high blood pressure and serious cardiac arrhythmia — with the potential of it acting within minutes of it being smoked.

A pathologist carried out a full exam on July 8 and discovered left ventricular heart failure, the cause of Mr Crowden's death, from drug toxicity — in particular, the spice.

Miss Gingell concluded: "Lee took the drugs himself but there was no evidence to suggest he did so with the intention of ending his life.

"He was probably generally struggling and at the time he was engaging with services to get help with his drug misuse difficulties — and he has to be commended for that."