Be careful how much you celebrate new 'successes'

                           Her parents were too saddened by the news   Photo: Courtesy

 

A psychologist died of a drug overdose after taking a lethal cocktail of spirits, cocaine and psychedelic legal highs while she was celebrating landing a job as a support worker for drug addicts.

Jennifer Whiteley, 27, took class A drugs and 'bombs' of Benzo Fury with her boyfriend at her family home while her parents were away on holiday.

She began sweating profusely and passed out during the drug binge, but although she was rushed to hospital doctors were unable to save her.

At the time of her death, Miss Whiteley had traces of nine recreational drugs in her system, an inquest heard.

Only days before the tragedy on July 19, the trainee psychologist had been hired by the NHS to work with drug users and people taking medication to control depression.

The hearing in Sale, Greater Manchester was told that Miss Whiteley was 'really happy' to be starting the job at Cheadle Royal Hospital after graduating with a master's degree in health psychology from Staffordshire University, and had applied to do a doctorate.

She had told her parents, Claire and Edward, that she wanted 'some quiet time' while they were away on a caravan holiday, and said she was going to see boyfriend Andrew Tunnah, 29, whom she had met at university eight years earlier.

But the couple bought cocaine plus a bottle of Smirnoff vodka and black cherry cider before going back to her family's semi-detached house in Sale.

They had previously purchased Benzo Fury, also known as 5APB and 5MAPB, which was outlawed over health fears a month before Miss Whiteley's death, although it was legal when they bought it over the internet.

Mr Tunnah told the inquest that he and his girlfriend both had a pint of vodka and orange then around 9pm took 'bombs' of the legal high wrapped inside a cigarette paper, before she snorted a line of cocaine and took other drugs.

He added that they were listening to music and decided to watch a film, but both were 'sweating profusely', and at around 5am she went to the toilet and her face suddenly turned red.

Mr Tunnah said he had seen her react in a similar way before, but never so quickly, so he put her in the shower to cool down and called an ambulance.

Paramedics arrived within five minutes at 5.51am, but found Miss Whiteley unconscious and twitching in the bathroom, with a rapid heartbeat.

She went into cardiac arrest and was rushed into Wythenshawe Hospital but was pronounced dead at 7.05am.

Tests found a number of drugs in her system including ephedrine, ethylphenidate, mogadon, benzodiazepine, tresaderm, propranolol, levamisole, cocaine and cocaethylene.

In a statement given to police and read out to the inquest, Mr Tunnah said: 'Jennifer and I have taken drugs hundreds if not thousands of times before. It was how we would chill out together.'

A text he sent to Miss Whiteley read: 'I will sort it out, will get coke and opiate.'

But at the hearing, Mr Tunnah said his girlfriend took cocaine 'very rarely' and legal highs 'again very rarely'.

Consultant forensic toxicologist Julie Evans said: 'All of these drugs are going to stimulate the heart and potentially put in danger of cardiac arrhythmia and put a lot of strain of the heart.'

Claire Whiteley told the hearing she had 'absolutely' no knowledge about her daughter's recreational drug taking even though the whole family was living together at the time.

She added that Jennifer 'had a lot of pharmaceutical knowledge' because of her job and would have been aware of how drugs could react with each other.

Mrs Whiteley said that the only drugs she knew of her daughter being prescribed were beta-blockers to control her anxiety, and continued: 'I can't understand how she could take something that increased her heart rate when she was having panic attacks.'

Edward Whiteley told the hearing: 'I'm quite sure Jennifer would have known the effects of some of the drugs mentioned. It seems to me ludicrous that she would have taken as many drugs as she has done.'

Police recovered two bags of Benzo Fury at the family home, as well as white and brown powders, green vegetable matter and eight pink tablets.

Recording a death of misadventure, coroner Joanne Kearsley said: 'It must be very difficult, there was no knowledge that she had previously taken drugs or that she was going to take them that evening.

'It would appear they were together and made a decision to take a number of recreational drugs, what were at the time legal, no one can know the potential interaction and the potential fatality.

'There is absolutely no suggestion that she intended her drug taking that day to result in this, she didn't intend the outcome to be fatal. You simply cannot know of the potential impact these designer drugs can have, even the toxicologists are trying to get to grips with them.'

After the case Mrs Whiteley said: 'The people who are making these drugs and selling them couldn't give two hoots about the damage they cause.

'They don't give any regard to what people have taken and then have to suffer. People think it is not going to happen to them but obviously it does - just like it did to my daughter.'

 

Source: Dailymail