An inquest into the death of Bríd Cummins (48), who was found dead in Galway city on the day she was due to be evicted by the local authority, has ruled that she died of a heart attack due to a combination of prescribed medicines.
An appeal by Ms Cummins's solicitor to add a rider to the verdict, stating that no vulnerable person should be evicted without alternative accommodation being made available, was turned down by the jury.
Coroner Dr Ciarán MacLoughlin said every agency in the State should work laboriously to avoid the occurrence of suicide, which was on the increase. If a tenancy was going to be terminated, arrangements should be put in place with other statutory agencies to ensure accommodation needs were met, he said at the inquest in Galway yesterday.
The role of Galway City Council in handling Ms Cummins's case was defended at the hearing by Frances Mullarkey, senior housing executive with Galway City Council. Ms Mullarkey said the local authority had initiated court proceedings against Ms Cummins as it had received complaints regarding her behaviour and assaults on neighbours in the area.
The local authority had tried to engage with Ms Cummins and had asked her to come into the office, but it "didn't happen". Legal proceedings against her in the District Court were appealed to the Circuit Court, and Ms Cummins was told she had to hand in her keys at noon on December 6th, Ms Mullarkey said. Asked by the coroner if alternative provisions were made when an eviction occurred, particularly in December, she said no provisions were made.
Solicitor Jarlath McInerney asked Ms Mullarkey why Ms Cummins's appeal for a transfer to more suitable accommodation had not been granted. He had furnished documentation including medical and engineering evidence that the premises were totally unsuitable for her, and Ms Cummins had initiated proceedings against the local authority when her requests were not met. Mr McInerney also asked why an offer by Ms Cummins to leave voluntarily if she could stay until after Christmas was not met, why the local authority had sent two officials to evict her the day before the issue was due to be heard again in court, and why contact was made with a homeless agency to block provision of alternative accommodation.
Ms Mullarkey said Ms Cummins told the Circuit Court judge she was "going to stay with friends". The local authority did not want to have to go to court to have her committed for not leaving the premises, but wanted her out "due to her behaviour".
Asked by the coroner if his line of questioning was helpful to the inquiry, Mr McInerney said the family was very concerned about Ms Cummins's treatment by Galway City Council and "heavy-handed" proceedings had continued "right to the end".
Garda Cathal Rogers told the inquest he received a call at 6.20pm on December 6th, 2004, asking him to go to Munster Avenue, where Ms Cummins lived. There he was told by Ms Mullarkey that a resident had been due to leave at noon that day, but the keys had not been handed in.
Garda Rogers forced entry and let a colleague in to assist. They found Ms Cummins in a bedroom and she was pronounced dead at 7.25pm.
Dr Eugene Connolly, who carried out a post-mortem, said Ms Cummins had a history of severe facial pain due to a spinal injury sustained 10 years previously. She was disabled and unable to socialise, he said.
Ms Cummins had been placed on medication for chronic pain, with one of the drugs being an anti-depressant which had "gone out of favour", but which was specific to her pain relief. She also took a hypnotic drug to help her sleep. Their combination may have been enough to cause lethal cardiac arrhythmia, he said,although tests were hampered by the fact that she had been dead for some days before she was found. Ms Cummins was last seen on December 2nd.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict of death due to heart attack due to the toxic effect of the combined medicines.