BY DAVID FORSYTHE
THE inquest into the sudden death of a young Bantry father-of-three has heard that he died as the result of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Coroner Frank O’Connell opened the inquest into the death of Steven Thomas who died in Bantry on March 14th, 2024.
Mr O’Connell said that the purpose of opening the inquest was to officially record Mr Thomas’ death and would not be looking at any circumstantial evidence.
In a statement Garda Louise McLoughlin said she responded to a call to attend the Quays Bar in Bantry on the morning of March 19, 2024.
She said that a man, identified as Steven Thomas was pronounced dead at the Quays Bar at 11.45am by paramedic Jamie Hennessy. Gda McLoughlin said that Mr Thomas had been working at the location earlier that morning and was described as being ‘alive and well’ by witnesses.
Assistant State pathologist Margot Bolster told the inquest that she carried out an autopsy on Mr Thomas’s body at Cork University Hospital on March 21st. She said that the cause of death was ‘acute carbon monoxide poisoning due to the inhalation of petrol fumes in a confined space’.
Mr O’Connell said that a Health and Safety Authority investigation was being conducted into the circumstances of Mr Thomas’ death and the findings would go to the DPP who would decide if there was a criminal case to answer.
He said that whether the inquest would resume or not would depend on whether there was a prosecution.
Mr O’Connell offered his sympathies to the family who were present, as did Insp Triona O’Mahony on behalf of An Garda Síochána. He adjourned the inquest until March 4th, 2025 for mention.
