Man who died after collapsing in Sunderland car park had taken ‘toxic combination of alcohol and drugs’, inquest hears

Sunderland’s senior coroner Derek Winter has concluded today (Wednesday, June 24), the inquest into the death of Lee Turnbull.

Mr Winter ruled that it was a “toxic combination of alcohol and drugs” which sadly killed the Sunderland man.

Lee Turnbull, also known as Bowden, died on Saturday, February 29, after being found lying on his back in a car park on West Wear Street.

The inquest heard that CPR was performed on the 45-year-old in an attempt to save his life, however it was not enough.

The resident of Swan Lodge Lifehouse in High Street East was pronounced dead at 4.25pm.

At the time of his death, an appeal was launched to find Mr Turnbull’s family and he was formally identified by his social worker.

The court heard that the post-mortem report found Lee’s body to contain methadone, ethanol from alcohol consumption along with small traces of cocaine.

When concluding the inquest, Mr Winter said: “It was a toxic combination of alcohol and drugs which caused the death of Mr Turnbull.

“It was through his own misadventure and his death was an unintended consequence of his own actions.”

Lee’s family were not present during the conclusion of the inquest but it was confirmed that they have been informed prior to today’s hearing of the coroner’s findings.

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