Sister 'let down by drug misuse agency'

Thirty-nine-year-old Lisa Kent died seven months after Ryan Lee Nicholson, who had shared her home at Bowdown Court, was found dead on a train.
An inquest in Newbury heard yesterday (Wednesday) how she was found beside a photograph of 40-year-old Mr Nicholson, with whom she had enjoyed a happy and fulfilling relationship.
Miss Kent’s sister, Rachel Paterson, said after the hearing: “They were both beautiful people - eco-warriors and animal lovers.”
But she had harsh words for West Berkshire substance misuse service KCA who, she felt, had failed her sister.
The inquest heard that Miss Kent was found hanging in the bathroom on April 23 this year. A note on the door read: “Sorry. Don’t come in.”
Post mortem tests revealed non-lethal levels of alcohol, barbiturates and opiates in her system, said assistant deputy Berkshire coroner Ashley Fegan-Earl.
Ms Paterson told him that her sister had battled “the disease of addiction” and had been devastated by the death of Mr Nicholson, who had fought his own drug problems.
A verdict of misadventure was previously recorded on Mr Nicholson, a carpenter and wood carver who died last September.
During that hearing he was described as “a popular man and a considerate man, who sadly suffered from addiction to a very dangerous drug.”
Ms Paterson acknowledged the role grief had played in her sister’s death but said: “Her (heroin substitute) prescribing agency, KCA, said she could do a home detox. I told the manager she wasn’t physically or mentally prepared for it or fit enough. She desperately needed to go into rehab but, unless you can pay your own way through.....”
Although her sister was now “at peace,” she added: “I’m amazed that they led her to believe she was strong enough to do a home detox. And, in fact, she became frightened and tried to detox herself using muscle relaxants and amphetamines. She was never the same after that.
“She was devastated by Ryan’s death but I feel we could have got her through that - if only she’d had the right help with her disease of addiction.”
Mr Fegan-Earl ruled that Miss Kent “took her own life while low in mood and suffering the effects of addiction.”