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Police say it's 'not possible' to determine who gave Maidstone addict fatal injection

15:16, 14 October 2019

updated: 19:43, 14 October 2019

Police are still trying to find out how a bedridden heroin addict got hold of the drug that caused her to overdose.

Long-standing health problems meant Wendy Laffan, 59, could not leave her bed, confining her to her living room in Maidstone.

Wendy Laffan. Picture: Matthew Walker
Wendy Laffan. Picture: Matthew Walker

On March 16 police and paramedics were called out to Penfold Close where a friend told 999 she was having difficulty breathing.

Ms Laffan's partner was also present when she died.

Assistant coroner Catherine Wood heard Ms Laffan had regular meetings with the district nurse who would dress wounds caused by osteomyelitis in her coccyx.

Osteomyelitis is a rare condition that infects a person's bones.

Heroin use had caused the mother's left arm to be amputated and Ms Laffan told her nurses she preferred to inject into her upper right thigh.

A post mortem revealed she had more than 30 puncture marks on her left thigh and hip when she died.

DS Victoria Swift said: "It's not possible to conclusively say who administered the fatal injection or injections.

"She was lying on her right shoulder with her left hip exposed when she died. She may have been able to access her left hip. There were so many injection sites it was impossible to say which was which.

"An investigation into potential supply is still open. There's still insufficient evidence to reach the threshold to bring charges."

When police asked Ms Laffan's partner where the drugs had come from, he replied "no comment," the inquest heard.

Toxicologist Dr David Rose found Ms Laffan, who was also diagnosed with COPD, had 676mg of morphine per litre of blood.

Fatal doses have been recorded as low a 109mg per litre.

The inquest heard Ms Laffan was on a methadone programme, but she told visiting nurses she saved it up before using it.

Assistant coroner Wood said: "The supply issues are not a matter for me to consider. They are a matter for the police.

"There's no way near enough enough evidence for me to consider unlawful killing as a short form cause of death."

Ms Wood ruled the cause of death was drug related and offered her condolences to friends and family of Ms Laffan.

For more information on how we can report on inquests, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone.

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