The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A father who tried to resuscitate his son who had overdosed on methadone has spoken of his frustration about the police’s failure to catch the person who supplied the drugs.
Lincoln Coroner’s Court heard that Darshan Sampson (36) was found by dad David at the Juniper Crescent home he shared with brother Kieron in Spalding but he died despite attempts to save his life.
His body was found to contain 242 nanograms of methadone per millilitre of blood.
Though below the 400-nanogram “lethal” level of the drug, which is often prescribed to help people come off heroin, the inquest heard it was within the “toxic” range particularly to someone not experienced with those drugs.
David told the inquest that the family had been able to access Darshan’s phone and give police the messages and details of who had supplied him with drugs in the past.
“The police said they’re compiling this and they’ll use it at a later date, but how much later?” said David who found Darshan while dropping off face masks for his sons. “Is this going to happen to someone else? Stop it now. Help us!
“They’re very helpful, very friendly but we’re not seeing any results and we’re providing them with information.
“We’ve lost a son, Alisha and Kieron have lost a brother. It’s going to happen to somebody else,” he continued.
“He didn’t intend this, it’s just a tragic, tragic mistake. We believe it (methadone) came up in the last three weeks of his life. It’s not something we believe he’d ever used before.”
The inquest heard that Darshan had a history of mental illness and of drug and alcohol issues, but had taken steps to help himself including starting a new job. He had not been drinking before his death.
“The sad thing is he had come off the strong stuff,” David continued. “I’d take two cans (of alcohol) a day and sometimes I’d come back the next day and they were still there.
“It was reassurance. It was there if he needed it. But he didn’t drink it just because it was there. He was coming off it. So it was onwards and upwards.
“Then a person supplied him with this stuff. That person is still walking about with his suppliers and we’ve lost somebody.”
The inquest heard that just days before his death on August 4, 2020, Darshan had spent two days in Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital after being involved in an alleged altercation on a night out in Spalding.
In a statement to the inquest, Paul Gurney of Lincolnshire Police, said that Darshan had been found with a grazed knee and had said he’d been hit over the head, though an MRI scan found no evidence of head injury and “any injury is not likely to have caused or been linked to his death.”
Codeine linked to his hospital visit was found in his body, the inquest heard, while there was also evidence of pneumonia.
Delivering a verdict of a “drug-related” death, Coroner Paul Smith, said: “There is no evidence this was a deliberate overdose and even less evidence he intended it to be his own death.
“Rather it seems to be a tragic consequence of poor lifestyle choices and ultimately it is open to me to record it as a drug-related death as it isn’t medication that was prescribed to him.
“The methadone which he received will have likely been prescribed to someone with an established opioid drug habit. The dosage of that medication they will used to meet their equilibrium will have been far higher than the dosage that Darshan should have attempted to take.
“It’s a very tragic set of circumstances and sadly it appears to have been an unwise lifestyle choice that has led to Darshan paying the ultimate price.”
Speaking to The Voice, David said of his son: “Darshan was a lovely lad, absolutely lovely. Everybody loved him and I’ve had so many people say how much they miss him.
“He had his problems with depression, which many of us do at times, but I couldn’t imagine in a month of Sundays this would happen to him.
“This shouldn’t happen really. You make one mistake like that and you pay for it. He didn’t see ill in anybody but these people use you.”
Lincolnshire Police did not respond to The Voice’s request for a quote before the print version of the newspaper went to press.
However, later on Wednesday, detective sergeant Paul Gurney from Spalding CID said: “We carried out a investigation to establish who had supplied Darshan with the methadone but unfortunately we didn’t have enough evidence to establish the source.
“Consequently we have not made any arrests but as a result of enquiries carried out by his family, and messages found on Darshan’s phone, we have gained intelligence which may still assist us in the future.”
