Coroner in drug warning after borough woman's death

A coroner has warned of the dangers of drugs at an inquest into the death of a woman.

Siobhan Sheldon, from Tyldesley, died on Christmas Eve last year from heart disease which had been exacerbated by her use of amphetamines.

She was found unresponsive by partner Andrew Cooper on the sofa of their home in Kermishaw Nook, the hearing in Bolton heard.

Ms Sheldon, 31, was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital but despite the best efforts of doctors, she was pronounced dead later that day.

The inquest was told she had taken psychostimulant drug amphetamine in the run-up to her death.

On December 12 Ms Sheldon had also suffered a seizure and attended Bolton hospital’s A&E, with doctors again discovering she had taken amphetamine.

Alan Walsh, area coroner for Manchester West, said: “Drugs are dangerous. Not just drugs from the point of view of excess, but also when they’re taken recreationally.

“They effect the organs of your body.”

The hearing heard from Ms Sheldon’s partner of eight or nine years Mr Cooper, who said the pair had vowed to stop taking amphetamines and cannabis months before the tragic incident.

Ms Sheldon’s mum Gail Sheldon also spoke during the inquest to say that her daughter had started to use drugs since her teenage years after getting in with a “bad crowd”.

Describing the day of Ms Sheldon’s death, Mr Cooper said she had appeared “agitated”.

He said: “Siobhan hadn’t been well. She seemed anxious and up and down all day and was confused.

“She vomited in the front room and I had to take her to the bathroom to clean her up.

“Later on I found her on the couch of the living room.”

Dr Patrick Waugh, a consultant histopathologist at Bolton hospital who carried out the post-mortem examination, offered a medical cause of death as heart disease due to the narrowing of Ms Sheldon’s coronary arteries and amphetamine use.

Coroner Mr Walsh said the condition had been made worse by her amphetamine use.

He said: “She died from coronary artery disease made worse by the use of amphetamines.

“Her arteries were 90 per cent narrowed which would have reduced her blood supply and she could have had a heart attack at any time.”

Recording his conclusion, he added: “Ms Sheldon died of naturally occurring disease exacerbated by her use of illicit drugs.”

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