From today's Irish Independent
Mushrooms 'made man fall to his death' from fourth-storey balcony during party
Breda Heffernan
COLM Hodkinson bought a box of €25 magic mushrooms thinking they were a "bit of fun" but less than an hour after eating them he was dead, having fallen from a fourth-floor balcony.
The Hodkinson family believe their son's death at the age of 33 was due to the hallucinogenic mushrooms he had earlier bought over the counter at an alternative lifestyle shop in Dublin city centre.
The successful young businessman and keen golfer had been a first-time user of the drug.
He allegedly bought the mushrooms to share with friends at a Hallowe'en party.
Yesterday his father Eoin and brothers Sean and Paul attended the opening of his inquest at the Dublin County Coroner's Court in Dun Laoghaire.
They heard in shocking detail how Mr Hodkinson sustained extensive injuries, including fractures to the facial bones and base of the skull and crush injuries to the brain, in the plunge from the balcony of his apartment at The Anchorage, Clarence Street, in the seaside town on October 30 last.
Insp Denis Henaghan applied for an adjournment of the inquest as the Director of Public Prosecutions is still considering whether charges should be brought in relation to the death.
Sean Hodkinson is reported as saying that his brother had heard that magic mushrooms were meant to be a "bit of fun" and that no real harm could come from them.
His brother and three friends ate the mushrooms raw from the packet, he added.
But around half an hour after taking three of the hallucinogenic mushrooms with some alcohol, Mr Hodkinson started feeling sick and vomited several times.
According to Sean, his brother then became agitated and scared and did not know what was happening to him.
Soon after he plunged to his death from the balcony.
In the days following their son's death, the distraught Hodkinson family launched a campaign to make the sale and possession of the hallucinogenic mushrooms illegal.
After petitioning their locals politicians they met Tanaiste Mary Harney in December.
In January of this year Ms Harney announced that she was introducing legislation banning the sale and possession of the mushrooms in both their raw and processed states.
Previously, it had been legal to sell them untreated.
After the introduction of the ban, owners of stores selling magic mushrooms branded the move a "knee-jerk reaction".
The large-scale selling of magic mushrooms in Ireland began around two years ago when a loophole in the legislation meant that unprocessed mushrooms could be sold over the counter.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty adjourned the inquest to June 27 next.
He said: "This is a very tragic case and I want to extend my sympathies to Mr Hodkinson's family.
"How his death came about will be explained when the inquest is heard in full."
Mushrooms 'made man fall to his death' from fourth-storey balcony during party
Breda Heffernan
COLM Hodkinson bought a box of €25 magic mushrooms thinking they were a "bit of fun" but less than an hour after eating them he was dead, having fallen from a fourth-floor balcony.
The Hodkinson family believe their son's death at the age of 33 was due to the hallucinogenic mushrooms he had earlier bought over the counter at an alternative lifestyle shop in Dublin city centre.
The successful young businessman and keen golfer had been a first-time user of the drug.
He allegedly bought the mushrooms to share with friends at a Hallowe'en party.
Yesterday his father Eoin and brothers Sean and Paul attended the opening of his inquest at the Dublin County Coroner's Court in Dun Laoghaire.
They heard in shocking detail how Mr Hodkinson sustained extensive injuries, including fractures to the facial bones and base of the skull and crush injuries to the brain, in the plunge from the balcony of his apartment at The Anchorage, Clarence Street, in the seaside town on October 30 last.
Insp Denis Henaghan applied for an adjournment of the inquest as the Director of Public Prosecutions is still considering whether charges should be brought in relation to the death.
Sean Hodkinson is reported as saying that his brother had heard that magic mushrooms were meant to be a "bit of fun" and that no real harm could come from them.
His brother and three friends ate the mushrooms raw from the packet, he added.
But around half an hour after taking three of the hallucinogenic mushrooms with some alcohol, Mr Hodkinson started feeling sick and vomited several times.
According to Sean, his brother then became agitated and scared and did not know what was happening to him.
Soon after he plunged to his death from the balcony.
In the days following their son's death, the distraught Hodkinson family launched a campaign to make the sale and possession of the hallucinogenic mushrooms illegal.
After petitioning their locals politicians they met Tanaiste Mary Harney in December.
In January of this year Ms Harney announced that she was introducing legislation banning the sale and possession of the mushrooms in both their raw and processed states.
Previously, it had been legal to sell them untreated.
After the introduction of the ban, owners of stores selling magic mushrooms branded the move a "knee-jerk reaction".
The large-scale selling of magic mushrooms in Ireland began around two years ago when a loophole in the legislation meant that unprocessed mushrooms could be sold over the counter.
Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty adjourned the inquest to June 27 next.
He said: "This is a very tragic case and I want to extend my sympathies to Mr Hodkinson's family.
"How his death came about will be explained when the inquest is heard in full."
. (such as cigarettes, alcohol).![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
