Drug overdose death of Morecambe woman

Adele Michelle Mayers was found dead in the bedroom of her home in Clark Street on February 18.

Preston Coroner’s Court heard that she had been a drug user for some time and had been due to be taken for her daily methadone when she was discovered.

There was evidence drugs had been smoked in the room and no natural cause of death was found, so toxicology tests were carried out.

The medical cause of death was given as heroin toxicity.

The background

Miss Mayers, who was born in Lancaster, was under the care of drug and alcohol service Inspire at the time of her death.

The inquest heard that two days before her death, she had a medical assessment and had told an Inspire worker that she was smoking three to four bags of heroin a day, had three to four rocks of crack cocaine daily, and had bought diazepam and pregabalin tablets.

She did not share any thoughts of suicide or self harm, nor had she ever.

Rachel King, a team leader of the Early Intervention Team said Adele was “a very vulnerable young lady” who “had been able to get on top of things and then relapse”.

She said that despite Adele’s appointments “dwindling off” towards the end of her care, she was “optimistic about reductions (in drug use) and future at that time”.

She said that there had been lots of engagement between Miss Mayer’s family and a consultant psychologist.

Detective Sergeant Rachel Crossley, who attended Miss Mayer’s house on the day of her death, said there was no evidence of suicide or self-harm at the scene and that her text message history showed she was “very positive about moving on from her drug use.”

Coroner Richard Taylor concluded that it was a drug-related death, confirming “an excess of heroin”.

He said: “The drugs she took that day her body simply couldn’t tolerate any longer.”

If you or a loved one needs help and support with drug use, click on the NHS advice page here