Woman found dead at notorious flat following overdose on Class A drugs

She was one of four drugs-related fatalities to be discovered in Brighton within 24 hours, inquests heard.

Two of the victims were believed to have been dead for several days before they were found.

Kayleigh Jukes’s body was found at a notorious flat in Shanklin Court, Shanklin Road, Brighton, on March 15.

She had been injecting heroin and had overdosed.

Miss Jukes, originally of Saunders Park Rise in Brighton, had been living at the flat for the previous two months.

Her mother was not sure where she was living.

The inquest into her Miss Jukes’s death heard she was an addicted user of heroin and ketamine, as a GP report showed.

She was known to police as a witness for another heroin-induced death that happened August last year, also in a flat regarded as a hotspot for drug users.

She collected and used the drug with Oscar Maskell in Theobald House in the hours before his death on August 26.

She was thought to be friendly with Mr Maskell but police had been unable to contact her because, like her mother, they did not know where she was living.

Mr Maskell suffered three cardiac arrests brought on by a heroin and ketamine overdose, with paramedics unable to revive him despite multiple doses of adrenaline being supplied.

Miss Jukes, who was unemployed, was living with Nicholas Wood at the Shanklin Road flat, and he is still regarded as an interested person in the case, the inquest at Brighton and Hove Coroner’s Court found.

She was known to Pavilions, a substance misuse service.

Mr Wood was the owner of the flat at the time but has since been evicted.

In a statement to police he said he had a “good friendship” with Miss Jukes. Mr Wood told officers that he left the flat the day before she was found and Miss Jukes was alive after they took heroin together, the court was told.

He said in a statement to police that he and Miss Jukes had been using drugs together on March 14 and he later left.

She was found dead by Harry Milton, a friend of Mr Wood’s who let himself into the flat, on the morning of March 15.

The flat was always unlocked and people would come in and out. It was known as a drug den for sellers and users.

Mr Milton, of no fixed address, was shocked and went in search of help.

He came across a street cleaner who made a 999 call at 11.52am and let Mr Milton speak to emergency services.

Mr Milton claimed Miss Jukes looked as though she had “been dead for 48 hours”.

Police said that there was copious amounts of drug paraphernalia scattered around the flat Miss Jukes was found in, including needles and substances.

It is believed that she had been “speedballing” – taking heroin and cocaine together – at some stage shortly before she died.

DC Marcus Roberts, who knew Miss Jukes from Mr Maskell’s death, had dealt with her frequently before her death.

He paid tribute to her at the inquest.

DC Roberts said: “There was a lot of good about Kayleigh.

“She still had a moral compass about herself.

“She was addicted to drugs but still very much a human being inside and it was a pleasure to be with her.”

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded the death as fatal toxicity of heroin through misadventure, with the presence of cocaine a contributing factor.

A separate inquest heard yeterday that Elvis Monaghan, 35, died at his father’s flat in Goldsmid Road, Hove on the morning of March 15 after taking heroin and MDMA.

Mr Monaghan was an on-and-off user of heroin for more than ten years and had consistently found the motivation to get himself off the drugs.

He had reportedly been abstinent from drug use for 18 days before his death.

He too was known to Pavilions.

On the day before his death, Mr Monaghan bumped into Michael Rhodes, someone he had known for the past five or six years through a rehabilitation course.

They went to Mr Monaghan’s father’s flat where they were up late.

Tom, his father, found him unconscious in the bathroom.

Ecstasy pills were later found in Mr Monaghan’s pocket and heroin in his sock.

His death was recorded as fatal toxicity due to the combination of heroin and MDMA.

His father said of his late son: “He was a fantastic guy who loved everyone and was a huge boxing fan. He is sadly missed.”

Alexander James, a father of four died on March 16 from heavy usage of heroin.

Mr James, 56, and originally from London, died at his flat in Chiddingly Close, Whitehawk.

He was found unresponsive by his partner Alison Cork at 7.20am.

An inquest into his death heard that Ms Cork said in a statement he had been using heroin all day on March 15.

Police arrived at a scene of blister packets and burnt foil, along with brown powder believed to be heroin, and prescription drugs.

He suffered from chronic obstructory pulmonary disease.

Assistant coroner Gilva Tisshaw recorded the death as toxicity of methadone and heroin by misadventure.

The fourth drug death discovered between March 15 and 16 was that of Adam Webb, from Brighton.

Sussex Police said none of the deaths was connected.

SAD STRUGGLE OF MAN WITH COMPLEX MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

ADAM Webb was another of the four found within 24 hours after he took an heroin overdose.

Mr Webb, 39, who experienced serious mental health issues, primarily crippling anxiety, he was found at his flat in Charlotte Street, Brighton, on March 16.

By coincidence police, paramedics and Brighton and Hove City Council housing officers, concerned for his welfare, all arrived at his flat at the same time.

The caretaker had to break the door lock at 9.50am after Mr Webb did not answer.

His body was found partly decomposed.

He was found with a naloxone pen, which is used to treat heroin overdoses, by his side and it is believed that he collected and took the drugs with friends on March 5.

Mr Webb collected £20 twice from cash machines in the early hours of that day, enough money to buy small amounts of heroin.

He took one dose with friends and then he intended taking the second lot of heroin on his own.

Traces of heroin were found in Mr Webb’s thoracic fluid, which had to be used because blood could not be drawn as he had been dead for so long.

He was described as an outgoing person but sometimes lonely and he was easily taken advantage of because of his mental health problems.

The inquest was told that in his previous spell in Brighton, Mr Webb had a friendship group who would make him buy drugs and use them with him but leave afterwards.

It is believed that he fell back into the same group when he moved back and they could have been the friends he was with the night he died.

Concern grew after he failed to attend meetings with support workers, something said to be out of character for Mr Webb.

He had only been living in his new flat for five days after moving from temporary accommodation in Newhaven back to Brighton, where he frequently moved from hostel to hostel.

Police went to his flat because he visited a station on March 4 raising issues believed to be from his past, according to his support worker Fran Byron.

Mr Webb struggled with learning difficulties during adolescence and was a drug user in his late teens.

He was diagnosed with a learning disability in 2014 and was known to Pavilions and other drug support services, the inquest heard.

Ms Byron, Mr Webb’s support worker from support service Fulfilling Lives, worked with him frequently and described him as a larger than life character.

Ms Byron said she developed a theory about Mr Webb’s anxiety at his new flat.

He would consistently contact the council with small issues about it because he felt uncomfortable there.

Ms Byron said he told her of a sexual relationship he had with a “much older man” who she believed had raped Mr Webb.

His flat reminded him of where the attack took place and may have made him feel he was reliving it, she said.

In a tribute to Mr Webb, Ms Byron said: “He was a wonderful, kind and creative guy.”

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded the death as fatal toxicity of heroin brought on by misadventure.