'˜Speedball' confirmed to have caused death of man found in public toilets

Attempts were made to revive Mr Groom but he was pronounced dead half an hour later

Police were called to toilets in Ifield Road, Crawley, on April 22 and found 37-year-old George Groom lying on the floor.

They were alerted at 8.20pm by a taxi driver who had been approached by a man and told there was a ‘dead man’ in the toilets.

An inquest into Mr Groom’s death was held in Worthing on Thursday (September 15).

CPR was attempted at 8.30pm but Mr Groom was confirmed dead at 9.04pm, according to a report read out by the coroner’s officer.

Police later spoke to Mr Groom’s brother, who confirmed George had taken a ‘speedball’ – a combination of heroin and cocaine, the inquest heard.

Dr Ali Alhakim, who conducted the post-mortem examination, determined the cause of death to be morphine toxicity.

Mr Groom was unemployed and of no fixed address.

Summing up, Dr Henderson said she was satisfied that the ‘cause of death given by Dr Alhakim was morphine toxicity 1A and no other medical issue was found to cause or contribute to the death.’

“It was clear that he did take a speedball,” she added, also referencing Mr Groom’s history of opiate and crack cocaine use.

The coroner recorded a verdict of drug-related death.

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