Woman who met man online found dead in his bed of overdose

A 37-year-old woman who met a man online was found dead in his bed the next morning, an inquest heard.

Margaret Crowley of St Colman's Place, Buttevant, Co Cork joined Tagged where she met Brian Glass, from Tallaght in Dublin.

Both had a child around the same age and had previous problems with heroin addiction, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

Ms Crowley travelled from Mallow to Dublin by train where she met Mr Glass at Heuston Station on August 13th, 2014.

The pair had a few drinks and walked around Dublin before returning to Mr Glass’s father’s house in Tallaght at about 8pm.

“We met up on a dating site. I joined the social network Tagged a few months ago. It’s a way of meeting new people. We were having banter back and forward and I asked for her number,” Mr Glass said.

He denied they had taken heroin at his father’s house but said he panicked when he returned to his bedroom after having a cup of tea the following morning. He said Ms Crowley was lying on the bed as he had left her but she “looked dead”.

He tried to administer chest compressions before phoning his sister for advice and then called an ambulance.

Joe Brady of Dublin Fire Brigade arrived at the house at Avonmore Park in Tallaght at 11.10am on August 14th, followed by gardaí five minutes later. Ms Crowley was pronounced dead at 12.15pm.

Speaking at an inquest into her death, Rachel O’Sullivan said her sister had problems with heroin in the past but to the family’s knowledge had beaten her addiction. “She was clean, she’d moved back home, she was good,” her sister said.

The family were unaware of Ms Crowley’s online social activity and had not known what brought her to Dublin.

The cause of death was acute heroin toxicity together with other medications, including anti-depressants, xanax and diazepam. The coroner returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

"It's risky taking heroin in any event but especially if you have been off it for some time," coroner Dr Brian Farrell said.