Eastbourne man died after collapsing on the street
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James St John-Smythe, also known as William Housen to many, died at the DGH on June 1 last year, an inquest heard.
The inquest at Eastbourne Town Hall on Thursday (April 1), was told Mr St John-Smythe, who lived in Southfields Road, had taken heroin and cocaine on May 26.
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Hide AdDr Rose Moore-Moffatt told the inquest Mr St John-Symthe had paranoid schizophrenia and also suffered from depression and anxiety.
The inquest heard Clint Harvey was with Mr St John-Symthe on May 26. The pair had met up to take drugs in Junction Road.
Mr Harvey said they did this regularly and Mr St John-Smythe was used to injecting the drugs himself. After taking the drugs, Mr St James-Smythe collapsed and had a cardiac arrest.
The inquest heard emergency services were alerted to the incident just before 3pm. Ambulance crews and police attended the scene.
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Hide AdTracey Phipps, an attending paramedic, said Mr St John-Smythe was unconscious and wasn’t breathing when she arrived.
At 3.30pm there was evidence of respiratory efforts from Mr St John-Smythe so he was taken to the DGH, arriving at 4pm.
In the days that followed he was treated on the intensive care unit but on June 1 at 3.30pm life support was turned off due to the brain injury he had suffered as a result of the cardiac arrest.
East Sussex coroner Alan Craze ruled that Mr St John-Smythe died from drug use which resulted in a cardiac arrest and hypoxic brain injury.