A man with at least 70 previous criminal convictions died while living at accommodation run by the Peter McVerry Trust in Dublin after ingesting a mix of “a lot of substances”, an inquest has heard.
Jeffrey Mitchell had been living at homeless accommodation since 2020 until his death in November 2022.
The 49-year-old was jailed in 2016 for three years for an assault on a woman walking home alone from a night out with friends.
At the time of his sentencing, Mitchell had 70 previous convictions including assault, robbery, possession of a firearm and handling stolen property.
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A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday heard that rigor mortis had set in by the time Mitchell was discovered during a routine health and safety check by staff.
Nicola Laird, a team leader at Aldborough House on Swords Road in Santry, said there were no concerns about Mitchell in the days leading up to his death, adding that he “kept to his self” and “didn’t cause too many issues”.
Asked by Coroner Dr Clare Keane if staff retained possession of any prescription medication for residents, Ms Laird said residents have allocated lockers where they can store such items.
Dr Keane returned a verdict of misadventure while the cause of death was due to the cardio and respiratory effects of multiple drug ingestion amid pre-existing severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A postmortem found long-term lung disease, while toxicology results found cocaine, pregabalin (Lyrica), alprazolam (Xanax), amitriptyline, codeine, benzodiazepines and noscapine which is a marker for heroin use, Dr Keane said.
Mitchell’s wife, Norah Fennell, said the family believed he had overdosed, which Dr Keane said there was no evidence of.
“I don’t really have the evidence at all to suggest that this was an overdose, not by the way that there were so many different ones. And being honest with you, there was no particular one that was in a lethal range,” she said.
Ms Fennell also raised that it was reported at the time of his death that Mitchell was discovered alongside “a lot of heroin”. However, Dr Keane said that claim was not heard in evidence “here today”.
It had been reported at the time of his death that Mitchell was discovered alongside drugs worth an estimated €50,000, but the inquest heard that “nothing of evidential value” was discovered at the scene.
In a written submission, Garda Andrew Fay of Ballymun Garda station said Mitchell was a “known drug user”.
“The scene was not preserved as there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident and nothing of evidential value at the scene,” he said.
Garda Luke Hughes also confirmed that nothing was taken into evidence, after questioning from Dr Keane.
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