Homeless man died outside Underworld pub in Camden Town after drinking dangerous quantity of alcohol

An inquest at St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard rough sleeper Enda Murray had been drinking with street friends outside the Underworld club when he suddenly collapsed and died last September.

Mr Murray, whose street name was “Irish”, had recently been released from prison when he died on the streets where he lived at the age of 44.

A post-mortem revealed he had dangerously high levels of alcohol in his blood, but no drugs. His heart was diseased and he had fatty liver damage, consistent with a history of alcohol abuse.

Members of the public stopped to help and attempted to perform CPR on Mr Murray after he collapsed at around 4.30pm on 17 September last year.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, who arrived within four minutes of being called, there was nothing that could be done to save Mr Murray, and he was pronounced dead at 17.07.

His street friend, who gave his name to police as “Geordie Debauchery”, said he had been drinking with Mr Murray outside the Underworld earlier in the day.

Another street friend, known as Alistair, said he had also been drinking cans of lager with Mr Murray before he collapsed, but due to mental health issues affecting his memory, he said he had, “no idea what time or day it was”.

Assistant Coroner Dr Richard Brittain found there were no suspicious circumstances and recorded a verdict of accidental death.

A recent investigation by the Ham&High revealed a 17 per cent rise in rough sleeping in the borough last year, with the number of people on the streets now topping 600 for the first time in five years.

Almost three quarters of those living on Camden’s streets have mental health or problems or addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Agencies working to reduce homelessness in the borough, such as the Camden Safer Streets Team, say there has been no increase in resources to deal with the rise in rough sleeping over the past five years.