Inquest: Shaun Tierney died at friend's Maryport home after drug use

Shaun Tierney, 32, was discovered unresponsive in a friend’s bedroom at Victoria Crescent in Maryport on April 11, 2024.

Mr Tierney had slipped back into drug use after his dad, Paul, had been diagnosed with incurable cancer in June 2023. He was receiving treatment ‘on and off’ from Recovery Steps – a drug and alcohol recovery service.

His mum, Sharon, said the family would ‘lecture’ him about his lifestyle. Mrs Tierney said her son ‘didn’t look like the typical drug user’.

Cockermouth Coroners’ Court heard he was a ‘happy-go-lucky lad’ who had a ‘good chat and a laugh’ with people while working as a window cleaner. He enjoyed spending time with his fiancée, Emma and his children.

On April 10, Mr Tierney called his mum and asked her to pick him up in Maryport town centre. He had collected his prescription from the chemist and then Mrs Tierney took him and a friend home.

She asked Mr Tierney if he had ‘been on something’. He replied that he was tired and had been out all night.

They went home and Mr Tierney slept and had something to eat. Mrs Tierney then dropped her son off in town later that evening and returned home. This was the last time she saw him.

The next day she took her husband to hospital for chemotherapy then went shopping. She was almost back home when she received a call from an unknown number. It was the police, who told her they were outside her house.

Mrs Tierney saw there were police vehicles outside the home of Jon-Jay Thompson, a friend of her son, while on her way home.

Nicola Wigham, the mother of Jon-Jay Thompson, said Mr Tierney had arrived at their home at about 4am. She said he was under the influence of an unknown substance.

Later that day, Mr Thompson told Ms Wigham that Mr Tierney was still asleep. At about 2pm, she heard a ‘loud commotion’ upstairs. She went up to Mr Thompson’s bedroom and saw Mr Tierney was ‘lifeless’. Nurses who care for Ms Wigham’s mother were carrying out CPR.

Jamie Brown, a friend of Mr Thompson, said he had gone round to the property at 1pm. Mr Thompson told him that Mr Tierney had been asleep for about eight hours. Mr Brown said he went upstairs and saw Mr Tierney wasn’t breathing.

Paramedics had arrived and pronounced Mr Tierney as deceased. Police recovered drug paraphernalia and found no suspicious circumstances.

A statement from Mr Tierney’s GP said Mr Tierney had a history of misusing substances. In the year leading up to his death, he had been using heroin and cocaine.

A toxicology report found a number of substances in Mr Tierney’s system. There were ‘potentially fatal’ levels of Bromazolam.

The cause of death was aspiration and bronchopneumonia due to Bromazolam and heroin use.

Dr Nicholas Shaw, assistant coroner for Cumbria, concluded that Mr Tierney’s death was drug-related.