Man (31) died after being impaled on spike while taking shortcut

A man died after being impaled on a spiked railing as he attempted to take a shortcut, an inquest has heard.

Michael Burke (31), of Carysfort Villas in Dalkey, Co Dublin, was walking home alone after visiting a friend when the accident happened on January 12th, 2018.

He cut through a car park at the Club bar and restaurant in Dalkey before climbing over a gate at a private pedestrian entrance to a house at 1.43am.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard he suffered a fatal penetrating wound as he climbed over the 1.3m gate and railings at Ashley House, Convent Road.

Patricia Corcoran was travelling to work at around 8am when she spotted a man slumped on the ground by a speed bump. She phoned 999 and said a cyclist stopped and began chest compressions but Mr Burke remained unresponsive.

During cardio pulmonary resuscitation, they noticed Mr Burke had a small puncture wound just below his navel and that there was a trickle of blood.

Dún Laoghaire-based Garda Sean White said he arrived at the scene at 8.33am and noted the wound. He said Mr Burke was lying six feet away from the gate, which was closed.

“It was a black gate with spikes on the top, there was a trickle of blood on one of the spikes,” Garda White said.

Match

Samples were taken from the spike for testing and these were found to match Mr Burke’s blood.

Dr Jane Moloney arrived at the scene shortly after 10am and Mr Burke was pronounced dead at 10.15am.

A postmortem was performed by Dr Marie Cassidy, who found Mr Burke suffered a perforating injury to his abdomen with a small external wound. The injury continued through the abdomen and into the aorta, the inquest heard.

She said the injury was fully consistent with a fall on spiked railings.

Dr Cassidy gave the cause of death as a penetrating wound to the abdomen due to impaling on a gate spike.

A toxicology report found the man had traces of morphine and Xanax in his system but not at high levels. Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane noted that these can affect coordination.

“It would appear it was just a completely unanticipated slip in a very dangerous position where the spike on the gate he was attempting to cross, caught him,” she said, returning a verdict of misadventure.