A couple were found dead in bed together with a positive pregnancy test beside them. Claire White, 32, was staying with her long-term partner Mark Martin Sinton, 42, at his address on Priory Road, Barnsley, when their bodies were discovered by Mark’s mother on February 21.
The pair, who shared four children and had been together for 17 years, were found lying on top of each other in a state of undress. An inquest held at the Sheffield Medico Legal Centre on Wednesday, November 5 heard how Claire and Mark had a background of IV-drug use, including heroin, cocaine and methadone.
Assistant Coroner Nathalie James told the court the couple, who lived with Mark’s mother, had arrived home from the town centre at around 5pm the previous afternoon. They did not speak to Mark’s mother but went upstairs where they slept, and she found their bodies the next day when she realised their coats had not moved.
In her statement to the court, Mark’s mother said: “Mark had been in a relationship with Claire since 2007, and they had four children together. Mark has been in and out of prison since 16 and was a heavy drug user. They came to live with me after my husband died several years ago,” reports Yorkshire Live.
The court heard Mark’s mother found the pair lying on the floor in a state of undress when she went to check on them. She told the court: “I went back into the room at around 3.15pm and found them. I shouted at them, but they didn’t respond. I knew they were dead. I didn’t see their faces.”
The ambulance services and South Yorkshire Police were called, and they were both declared dead at 4.16pm. The police also found a positive pregnancy test at the scene, as well as a crack pipe and other drug paraphernalia.
After extensive forensic post-mortems were carried out on both Claire and Mark, the coroner ruled that both had died from 1A Heroin, Cocaine and Methadone toxicity, although it was “impossible to tell” who died first. She said that both had consumed heroin, cocaine and methadone before their deaths, which had a combined toxic effect and caused their deaths.
Concluding the inquest, Mrs James said: “Based upon the evidence I have read and considered in detail, I am minded to consider a drug-related death. There was a long-established dependence on drugs, which was supported by the toxicology reports.”
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