Melissa Giltrap and Stephen Deloughrey passed away in May of last year.

THE DEATH of a couple, who passed away while in a family member’s house, over the course of the May Bank Holiday last year, was recalled at a recent sitting of Wexford Coroner’s Court.

Melissa Giltrap of 87 Gimont Avenue and Stephen Deloughrey from the same address, were found dead at 6 Woodlands, Clonroche on May 4, 2015 by a family member.

The inquest heard evidence from the other tenants of the house, from gardai and from the pathologist.

Dr. Nigam Shah performed post-mortems on both parties and did not note anything out of the ordinary during the normal course of inspection in either person. Toxicology reports showed the presence of sleeping pills, anti-depressant drugs, morphine, MDA and MDMA.

He remarked that individually these drugs may be ok but such a combination could cause cardio-respiratory arrest.

Dr. Sean Nixon reiterated that the cause of death in this case was cardio-respiratory repression due to the ingestion of a multitude of medications. He recommended a verdict of death by misadventure, explaining that there was no evidence to suggest that either party set out to die but their actions did involve taking a major risk with their lives.

He extended his sympathies to Deloughrey and Giltrap families on their very sad and tragic loss and this was echoed by the jury through Cllr. Fergie Kehoe, and the gardai, through Insp. Pat McDonald.