Man, 24, becomes first person to die from new 'legal high' clephedrone

A 24-year-old man has become the first person in the UK to die from a new drug.

An inquest heard how Marcis Rosmanis died from a heart attack in January brought on by clephedrone, a newly-identified psychoactive substance classed the same as former ‘legal highs’, which have now been outlawed.

The Latvian’s brother, who found him dead in bed, has now warned others not to meddle with the drug.

Toms Rosmanis told the inquest at Cleethorpes Town Hall that his brother, a qualified heating and plumbing engineer, came to Grimsby to join him in 2014.

The day before his death the pair had both earlier worked at frozen fish firm Seachill’s on a 2pm to 10pm shift. But the next morning, after he was unable to wake his brother up, Toms called paramedics but his brother was pronounced him dead at around 12.30pm.

He said his brother had sometimes taken cannabis in the past but he was unaware of him taking any other drugs.

Forensic toxicologist Dr Stephen Morley submitted evidence to the inquest in which he said it was the very first fatality he had examined caused by clephedrone.

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The drug can be snorted, smoked or taken intravenously and is like amphetamine, causing euphoria and boosting self esteem, he said.

But its side effects are hallucination, vomiting and seizures and can lead to the abuser going into a coma, suffering a stroke or death, he added.

Grimsby and North Lincolnshire coroner Paul Kelly, who recorded a verdict of misadventure, said: “When, where and how he obtained the drug is completely shrouded.

“We do not know about those circumstances. There is no evidence the deceased ingested it other than voluntarily.”

The investigating officer for Humberside Police, Stacy Meek, told the inquest that when the drug clephedrone was identified she alerted senior officers – who had never heard of it.

She said none had ever been found in the force area and it wasn’t known where it had come from.

The inquest comes just weeks after Mr Kelly presided over the inquest of Patrick Donoghue, 35, of Hull, East Yorkshire, who was found collapsed by children in Grimsby town centre last September after smokoing a pipe containing synthetic drug Pandora’s Box, also known as Clockwork Orange.

And last week, a man was left fighting for his life after taking another similar drug, Spice, in the town.