| |
Suspended nurse took fatal overdose
A SENIOR nurse killed himself after he was suspended from a Paddington hospital for stealing prescription drugs, an inquest heard.
Rae-d Rasheed Melhem, 34, took a morphine overdose last September after he was suspended from St Mary’s hospital in May, St Pancras Coroner’s Court was told on Tuesday.
Mr Melham, whose drug taking was discovered when a routine test uncovered narcotics in his system, and painkilling drugs were missing, had left a series of rambling voice messages on his girlfriend’s phone on the day he died.
Coroner Andrew Reid was told Mr Melhem had argued with his girlfriend, also a nurse at St Mary’s, the evening before he took his life.
Officers were called to the couple’s flat, which overlooks Arsenal Football Club’s Emirates stadium in Islington, by Mr Melhem’s girlfriend after she found him dead.
Giving evidence, PC Ryan Keating said: “When we arrived she (Mr Melham’s girlfriend) was very distraught.
“She was sat on the floor crying and it took a long time to calm her down.”
The couple, who planned to marry, had been together for nearly two years and had recently bought the flat when Mr Melhem, a Jordanian national, killed himself.
The argument was an ongoing issue, but had not been anything out of the ordinary, according to PC Keating.
“It was nothing serious. He’d threatened suicide but she hadn’t taken him seriously.She went to work and received voice mails and texts saying she’d regret it if they didn’t sort it out and by the end of her shift she began to get worried and came home early.”
She found her boyfriend already dead, lying on their bed, and a syringe, a spoon and a tourniquet placed on the kitchen table.
Dr Reid ruled an open verdict and described Mr Melhem’s overdose as a “cry for help”.
He said: “I must take account of the degree of tolerance he may have had. His messages leave me with a doubt.
“The evidence satisfies me he was seeking to manipulate the actions of his girlfriend. It was if anything a cry for help.
“He was seeking to cause his girlfriend to return and prevent him.”
Verdict: open, accidental overdose |
 |
|
| |
| |
