Portsmouth woman, 35, dies after 'tragic miscalculation' when taking concoction of drugs

Melanie Pocock, 35, was found dead by a neighbour on her lounge floor at her Spencer Court flat in Merton Road, Southsea, on June 3.

Ms Pocock’s struggles with heroin addiction for much of her adult life - and limited help to curb her demons - was described as ‘tragic’ by her sister Jessica Gant.

Portsmouth Coroner’s Court heard how the mum-of-two died as a result of taking a lethal concoction of prescribed and recreational drugs without being aware of the risk.

Methadone, morphine, cocaine and cannabis were found in her system along with prescription drugs for depression and pain relief - none of which were at excessive levels of an overdose.

And with a pathology report revealing her internal condition was ‘fairly normal’, it was concluded the cumulative impact of the drugs resulted in her sudden death.

Coroner Christopher Wilkinson concluded the death was drugs-related due to a ‘tragic miscalculation’ over the substances taken. ‘It was a terrible mistake in failing to recognise the combined effects of the drugs,’ he said.

The inquest heard how Ms Pocock had a ‘difficult’ upbringing from drug-addict parents before going into care and experimenting with drugs in her early teenage years.

Her mental and physical health were exacerbated as a child after falling 43ft, leaving her with severe pain after breaking her back.

In the April before her death, she also suffered another drop from a balcony resulting in 17 fractures and losing most of her teeth after falling face first on the ground.

Her drug addiction saw her suffer the devastation of having two children removed from her care - further pushing her along a ‘downward spiral’ which resulted in terms of jail for predominantly low-level crimes.

With her mental health struggles and ‘day-to-day’ chronic pain, Ms Gant told the hearing more could have been done to support her sibling’s mental health.

Ms Gant said her sister was ‘accountable for her actions’ but felt she was ‘failed’ by the authorities because she was a drug addict. ‘It’s tragic that at every corner she seemed to turn there was no help,’ she said.

‘If she had been a 70-year-old lady then the way she was treated would have been very different.’

The hearing was told that Ms Pocock was being supported by substance abuse and homeless charity the Society of St James and had even received ‘glowing reports’ for her efforts at times.

But despite on occasions getting close to beating her habit she would end up falling into old habits.

The inquest was told she cancelled her care with the charity a month before her death, which was confirmed on June 3 at 1pm when paramedics were called.

But in reality this was likely to have taken place a day or two earlier, the coroner said.

Pharmacy delivery driver Mark Haskett called round on June 1 and left methadone inside the flat after Ms Pocock said she was ‘not feeling well’.

The next day he called to drop the prescription off there was no reply. Nor did police officers get an answer after they called round to ‘see if she was ok’ after a recent assault on her.

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Resident David Tippens was the first person to discover Ms Pocock after going into the flat where the door was ajar. After seeing her on the floor he said: ‘I knew she was dead.’

Fellow resident Neil Cooper saw Mr Tippens leave the flat before calling the ambulance. ‘I saw Dave and said, “Is she ok?”. He said she was dead,’ he said.

Mr Cooper described how the flat had been used for ‘parties’ and drug dealing with Ms Pocock facing eviction by Portsmouth City Council.

Acting Det Sgt Jennifer Gibson told the hearing there was ‘nothing suspicious’ about the death. Two syringes were found near her body with drug paraphernalia found across the ‘normal drug use property’.

But Ms Gant said ‘something happened there’ after telling the hearing there was a ‘big difference’ in the state of the flat compared to weeks earlier, with her sister not physically capable of breaking furniture.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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