8:56am Thursday 28th May 2009
A family have been left in shock after their son died suddenly following a drugs and drink binge, an inquest heard.
James Philip Holmes, 48, died after taking an overdose at a flat in Green Lane, Addingham, despite efforts to revive him.
In a statement given at his son’s inquest at Bradford Coroners Court on Tuesday, Gerald Holmes, said: “As far as we knew, he never used drugs. When we were told of his death it came as a complete shock to our family.”
The court heard Mr Holmes, who has two children from a previous relationship, had suffered from depression and was seeking help for drinking problems shortly before his death on August 27, 2008.
The night before his death, he had downed cider with his partner, Heather Jones, and their neighbour, Vanessa Kay, at their flat in Green Lane, Addingham, before an argument broke out between the couple.
Miss Jones went to bed and Mr Holmes joined Miss Kay at her flat across the street.
At 7.30am, Miss Kay drove to a supermarket in Keighley for Mr Holmes to buy more booze, she told the inquest. When they got there, Mr Holmes withdrew £100 from a cash machine, according to bank statements.
Drug user Miss Kay said she then drove them to Chapeltown in Leeds, where Mr Holmes bought a bag of heroin and a bag of cocaine from a street dealer.
When they returned to her flat, she went to inject heroin in her bathroom, and when she returned, she saw Mr Holmes taking a needle out of his arm. He then slumped on to the sofa.
Miss Kay, who was attending court following a police summons, said: “I thought I would feel his pulse. It was really faint, so I rang the ambulance and told them ‘I think my friend has overdosed’.”
She spent about half-an-hour giving Mr Holmes mouth-to-mouth resuscitation then paramedics tried to start his heart but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pathologist Professor Christopher Mark Milroy said a post-mortem examination showed Mr Holmes had been more than three times the legal drink-drive limit and had recently taken heroin.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Coroner Roger Whittaker said: “He was inebriated to the extent that the input of heroin has tipped Jim Holmes over the edge and caused his death.”
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