A MAN was found dead at his Rhyl flat after suffering from heroin and crack cocaine addiction for some time, an inquest heard.
Mark John Shepherd died aged 41 at his home on River Street on January 5.
At a full inquest in Ruthin on May 9, John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, gave a conclusion of a drug-related death.
Mr Shepherd’s medical cause of death was recorded as acute blood loss due to a left inguinal wound, contributed to by combined drug toxicity.
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He was described by his mother and stepfather following the inquest as a “much-loved son and grandson”, a “charming” man, and a “grafter”.
“Even after he died, people said how he was always so lovely and polite,” his mother said of her late son, who worked as a window cleaner.
The inquest heard that Daniel Chamberlain, who considered Mr Shepherd “one of my best friends”, lived in another flat in the same building as him at the time of his death.
Mr Shepherd had been using heroin and crack cocaine for numerous years, he said in a statement, and had moved to River Street roughly eight weeks prior to his death.
He noticed Mr Shepherd appeared unwell not long after Christmas of 2022, which led him to show Mr Chamberlain a wound to the left of his groin with “bright red” blood.
From then on, Mr Chamberlain checked on him daily, and despite pleading with him repeatedly to seek medical help, Mr Shepherd reiterated: “I’ll be alright”.
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On January 5 at about 8.45am, Mr Chamberlain opened Mr Shepherd’s flat door to find him in bed, shivering, and looking pale.
Again, when he urged him to seek help, Mr Shepherd refused.
Mr Chamberlain returned from work at about 5.30pm that day, knocking on Mr Shepherd’s door not long after to check on him once again.
When there was no answer, he opened the door to find him lying on the floor “wedged between the bed and the TV”.
He realised Mr Shepherd was not breathing, so told the manager of the building to contact the police, who soon arrived at the scene with paramedics.
A paramedic who arrived at the flat at 6pm saw a double-sized bed with "heavily blood-stained sheets”, as well as “signs of blood loss from Mr Shepherd’s groin area".
The paramedic also found a hypodermic syringe on a bedside table, and Mr Shepherd was pronounced dead at the scene.
Similar findings were also reported by a police officer in attendance.
A statement from the Substance Misuse Service confirmed that Mr Shepherd had had longstanding issues with drug abuse.
Mr Shepherd had also been an inpatient at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan for several days last summer due to a groin infection.
Dr Muhammad Aslam, when conducting Mr Shepherd's post-mortem examination, found evidence that he had consumed multiple drugs prior to his death, including heroin, cocaine and tramadol.
He found a deep abscess in Mr Shepherd's groin area, and said that the drugs he had taken had worked "synergistically," and so had "contributed indrirectly to his cause of death".
Concluding, Mr Gittins said: “Clearly, he was a man with troubles in his life, but he made his own choices, ultimately.
“People sometimes in life make bad choices, and they are choices that they can’t then unwind from, because that’s just so difficult.
“Sadly, he has paid for it with an early death.”
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