A young Wicklow woman suffered a fatal bleed in her brain after the first time she ever took cocaine and ecstasy, an inquest has heard.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard evidence that Ailbhe Smith had been given the drugs by her new boyfriend, Glen Burke, in his house in Swords in the early hours of September 30th, 2020.
Ms Smith (26) of Quill Road, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow died the following day at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where the former DCU student had been brought by ambulance after suffering seizures in Mr Burke’s home.
The inquest heard that Ms Smith had met a female friend who was home from the US in Phoenix Park on the evening of September 29th, 2020 where they drank some alcohol and ate pizza and chocolate.
She took a taxi from Stoneybatter later on and arrived at Mr Burke’s house around midnight.
In evidence her boyfriend outlined how they had met on the dating website, Bumble and had “clicked” with both sharing an interest in water sports.
Mr Burke recalled that they had both taken some cocaine and MDMA (otherwise known as ecstasy) as well as drinking whiskey but that she was “fine” before they went to bed.
Mr Burke outlined how sometime later Ms Smith started sweating and shaking and had to go back to bed because she could not walk.
He described holding her hand while they were lying on the bed until she “lost the ability to hold my hand.”
Becoming visibly upset, Mr Burke said he only found out that Ms Smith had died two days after her death when her father phoned him, and he wished he had been able to attend her funeral.
“I carry this every day. For the first year I could not smile,” said Mr Burke.
He added: “If I could switch places with Ailbhe, I would.”
Mr Burke told the inquest that Ms Smith had wanted to take drugs, and he was aware it was her first time taking them.
999 call
In reply to questions from the coroner, Aisling Gannon, he said he called for an ambulance within 10 minutes of realising Ms Smith was unwell but was uncertain about when he made the 999 call.
In a written statement, his housemate, Nikolas Karachev, said he heard banging in the toilet between 8am and 9am and when he went to check Mr Burke told him that he was OK but not his girlfriend.
Mr Karachev said he was making breakfast later when Mr Burke rushed into the kitchen and informed him that Ms Smith had suffered a seizure with foaming in her mouth.
Mr Karachev said he thought she was OK, although she was breathing heavily. However, she was unresponsive by the time paramedics arrived at the house.
He said Mr Burke had told him about really liking Ms Smith even though they were only dating for a few months and that his housemate was “very sad” about everything that had happened.
Ms Smith’s former long-term boyfriend, Jamie Murphy, said they had spoken by phone on September 29, 2020 when she was excited about her new job, boyfriend and a friend being home from the US.
Mr Murphy said Ms Smith had also spoken about wanting to try “acid” but he had told her that he did not think it was “a good idea.”
During their 10 years together, Mr Murphy said she had never taken any substances apart from once on holiday.
The deceased’s brother, Oisín McFarland-Smith, said his sister had rung him a few days before her death and outlined how she wanted to try acid over the coming weekend but did not say with whom.
Mr McFarland-Smith said his sister was “very strong-willed” so that she would have done the opposite if he had advised her against taking drugs.
Instead, he recalled that he told her to make sure she only took small amounts and with people she trusted.
Although he had never met Mr Burke, he noted that his sister was “smitten” with her new boyfriend.
Text messages
Ms Smith’s mother, Oona McFarland, gave evidence of formally identifying her daughter’s body to gardaí at Beaumont Hospital.
Ms McFarland said they were told by hospital staff at around 6pm on October 1st, 2020 that tests had shown that Ailbhe was clinically brain-dead.
She told the coroner that she had not seen her daughter for a while as Ms Smith had been busy with work, and they only had contact via text messages.
Ms McFarland said she regretted that she had not seen where her daughter was living in Dublin after she had moved out of home four months earlier.
Detective Inspector Donncha Maguire said a Garda investigation had found no suspicion of foul play in relation to Ms Smith’s death.
Det Insp Maguire said Ms Smith had consumed four lines of cocaine and one ecstasy tablet as well as consuming a half bottle of whiskey with her boyfriend.
Phone records showed Ms Smith had exchanged a series of texts with a friend about her “fun night” between 7.08am and 7.32am on September 30th, 2020.
They also confirmed that a 999 call had been made at 10.39am to attend Mr Burke’s home.
A pathologist, Kathleen Han Suyin, said a post-mortem showed Ms Smith had suffered a bleed in the brain which could affect her breathing function.
Dr Han Suyin said toxicology reports showed the deceased had consumed cocaine and ecstasy “in quite high doses.”
She said both drugs were stimulants which had the adverse effect of increasing a user’s heart rate and blood pressure which could result in bleeding in the brain.
Dr Han Suyin said a series of marks and bruises on Ms Smith’s body had no role in her death.
Asked by Ms McFarland if the outcome might have been different if her daughter had received medical treatment sooner, Dr Han Suyin replied that a third of all patients with a bleed to the brain do not survive, while only 20 per cent regain full functional independence regardless of any rapid medical intervention or not.
“It is a serious condition with a high level of mortality and morbidity,” she added.
Returning a verdict of death by misadventure, Ms Gannon said the medical cause of Ms Smith’s death was “very clear.”
Ms Smith’s family declined to comment on the outcome of the inquest.
