A 24-YEAR-OLD man died as a result of taking two ecstasy tablets on a night out with friends – one of two MDMA-related deaths over the space of three weeks in the summer.
An inquest into the death of Upper Brynamman resident Lewis Box heard that when he returned home to his mother’s house at around 5:30am on August 14 he was ‘shaking uncontrollably’ and told his mother he had taken the drug. Shortly afterwards, his family found him in an unresponsive state, and he was declared dead at the scene.
Coroner’s Officer Malcolm Thompson told the inquest at Llanelli Town Hall that Mr Box was born in the Swansea area, and moved to Upper Brynamman after his parents separated, attending the local school. After leaving aged 16 he began a woodwork course at the local college before working a number of jobs including fibreglass fabricating and tyre fitting.
His interests included skateboards, motorbikes, music and his PS4. Family members described him as ‘a loving boy who had many friends’
Tests showed that Mr Box had traces of several drug metabolites, including cannabis and amphetamine, in his system, but the cause of death was given as a concentration of MDMA in excess of the level known to cause fatality.
“The account suggests that Mr Box took two ecstasy tablets and this proved fatal,” Coroner Mark Layton said. “In no way was this a deliberate act.”
Mr Layton reached the conclusion that the cause of death was drug-related.
Three weeks previously, a 42-year-old man in Llanelli passed away after accidentally ingesting a fatal quantity of the drug. An inquest into the death of Leighton Jones also concluded that the cause of death was drug-related.
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