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Islington Tribune - by WIEBKE TOBELMANN
Published: 24 October 2008

Brother found IT expert dead in bed

A COMPUTER expert had taken illegal and prescription drugs before his death, an inquest heard last week.
Mark Bourke, 32, was found dead in bed by his brother Simon at the flat they shared in Baldwin’s Gardens, Clerkenwell, in January.
A St Pancras inquest heard how the IT consultant dabbled in cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy) as well as prescribed drugs, though he had no history of ill health.
Simon Bourke said his brother had been between work contracts at the time of his death but was in an “upbeat” mood when he last saw him alive.
Mr Bourke, who works long hours as a banker in the City, discovered his brother’s body when he went to his room to check on him two days later.
The brothers’ mother, Pamela Kerins, told the inquest how she had felt compelled by “a mother’s instinct” to contact her son Mark on the day he was found dead.
Although drug paraphernalia was discovered in the room and an autopsy showed Mr Bourke had a number of drugs in his blood, the quantities were not considered enough to cause his death.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid said: “There was no evidence that [Mark Bourke] was suffering from any form of depression and considering self-harm.” He returned an open verdict.

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