Christchurch man Ryan Payne (29) died at friend’s home after taking drugs, Bournemouth Coroners’ Court hears
THE friend of a man found dead after taking drugs had failed to call 999 for four hours after discovering his body, an inquest heard.
Dale Tappy’s behaviour following the discovery of close friend Ryan Payne was so “strange” that an emergency worker at the scene had said in a statement: “I firmly believed that this was a murder, and that the murderer was still on the scene.”
Bournemouth Coroners’ Court heard Mr Payne (29), from Jellicoe Drive in Christchurch, was found lying on a sofa with injuries to his body including a cut to his head which had soaked a cloth put under it with blood.
Paramedics were called to the home of Mr Tappy’s then-girlfriend in Druitt Road in the town on 29th July last year. Mr Tappy had answered the door, covered in bruises and grazes, and was described by crew as “intoxicated” or under the influence of drugs.
He told paramedics he had found his friend lying dead with his head in a cat litter tray in an outhouse off the kitchen that morning. Having moved Mr Payne to the sofa, he had left him in an upside down position with his head on seat cushions and his legs up over the back of it.
Mr Tappy was said to have cooked a pizza and ate it while standing next to the body of Mr Payne, as paramedics tended to him. One of the crew members was so perturbed by Mr Tappy’s behaviour he had later rung police to raise his suspicions.
The court heard there were blood smears on furniture, walls and floors in the living room and kitchen, and Mr Tappy was observed taking what appeared to be a tray containing “drug paraphernalia” to his van.
He was later arrested on suspicion of murder and interviewed under caution but later released without charge.
Giving evidence at the inquest, Mr Tappy said it was a “normal thing” for him and Mr Payne, a warehouse manager, to “get together and get high”.
He said Mr Payne had come to his girlfriend’s house the night before his death and they had taken the drug ketamine, a horse tranquiliser.
He said the amount of drugs they had taken was “minimal”, adding: “We wasn’t loaded up with crates of beer, we wasn’t loaded up with drugs.”
Mr Tappy was said to have told people including paramedics that they had also taken mescaline, a psychedelic drug, but no trace of it was found in My Payne’s body.
His last memory of the night, said Mr Tappy, was of him and Mr Payne watching YouTube. He said he had then “blacked out.”
When he came to the following morning, he “realised the whole house was trashed and something bad had happened”, he said.
With reference to finding Mr Payne, Mr Tappy said: “He wasn’t breathing, he was really cold, and his muscles were really hard.”
DS David Colomb told the inquest that neighbours of Mr Tappy’s had heard “a lot of banging” from around 9.30pm until midnight.
Investigation of Mr Tappy’s phone revealed that after finding Mr Payne dead he had searched “What to do with a dead body?” and “Can you overdose on mescaline?”
But DC Colomb said there was “no evidence to suggest any form of assault” had occurred and “no evidence of any third-party involvement” in his death.
Toxicology tests revealed that Mr Payne had ketamine and codeine in his system, which he had been taking for an injured shoulder.
Pathologist Dr Basil Purdue testified that he had found defining a cause of death for Mr Payne “very challenging.” He said the amount of drugs the deceased man had taken was not enough to kill him.
But he said they would have depressed his breathing. He added that “the position he ended up in didn’t help his breathing” and the two together had led to Mr Payne’s death.
Ruling that Mr Payne’s death was “drugs related” senior coroner Rachel Griffin said: “What happened that evening is not clear to me.”
She added that there were “inconsistencies throughout accounts given at the scene and given today”.
As they left the inquest, Mr Payne’s family embraced an emotional Mr Tappy. A fundraiser set up after Mr Payne’s death had raised more than £13,000.
