Father of three died after taking heroin

A father of three from Spalding died of a drug overdose shortly after being released from prison, an inquest has heard.

Damian James Baker passed away aged 32 on January 7, 2018 at the Little London flat he had moved into with girlfriend Courtney Reeves just a week earlier.

In a statement read out at the inquest into Damian’s death at Boston Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, March 21, Miss Reeves said that he’d returned home from work as a driver around 2.45am that morning and immediately went out to purchase heroin.

She said: “He returned around 3am, injected himself and lay down on the bed as he always did. I spoke to him and told him I loved him just before I fell asleep at approximately 3.30am.

“When I woke at around 8am I told him to wake up, but he wouldn’t. I tried to wake him but didn’t get any response.”

After alerting the emergency services, attempts to save Damian using CPR were unsuccessful and he was officially pronounced dead around 9.20am.

Toxicology reports presented to the inquest stated that the levels of heroin found in Damian were “potentially toxic or lethal”. Traces of amphetamines were also found.

The inquest heard the couple has a two-year-old daughter, though she was not living in the flat at the time, and that Damian has two other children.

Damian’s mum Sandra Thacker said in a statement: “Damian and Courtney had been together three years and they had lived at the address one week. Prior to that he’d been in prison.

“The last time I saw him was when he was released from prison. He was in good spirits that day.

“He was very healthy but unfortunately became a drug user when he left school. I knew he took heroin.”

Lincolnshire coroner Murray Spittal, said: “Damian Baker had been relatively recently released from prison. He returned home from work in the early hours of the morning and proceeded to leave his address to obtain heroin.

“He returned to his home address where, on the evidence of his girlfriend, he injected heroin. The autopsy suggests he died very shortly afterwards and was found dead in bed.

“There’s pathological evidence of amphetamines which may, or may not, have been contained in the street heroin. In the opinion of the pathologist this contributed to his death.

“I consider it clear to me that the death of Damian Baker was drug related.”