A POLICE officer with more than two decades of experience investigating sudden deaths described the loss of a teenager’s life due to solvent abuse as a tragedy at an inquest.

Thomas Keaning’s body was found at the bottom of the stairs of his home in Railway Bridge, Stanley, County Durham, on February 16 this year.

An inquest at Crook Civic Centre today (Friday, August 14) heard that the 19-year-old was known to have smoked cigarettes and inhaled aerosols, particularly during times of stress, but his death came as a complete shock to his family.

Consultant pathologist Dr Kakinder Pal Sidhu, who carried out a post mortem examination, said butane, isobutane and propane were all found in his brain and lungs.

She said this indicated that solvents such as aerosols had been misused, decreasing cardiac output and causing drowsiness and loss of consciousness.

She determined the cause of death to be adverse effects of inhalation of solvent gases.

Detective Sergeant Graeme Devine told the hearing that when police visited Mr Keaning’s house they found an unusually high number of empty tins of deodorant.

He said cans were scattered throughout the house and a bin liner full of them was found at the bottom of the stairs and it was found he had bought six tins from a shop in Stanley in the hours before his death.

“My conclusion is, it is a tragedy what has happened.

“I’ve never seen it before to that degree, there were huge quantities around,” said Det Sgt Devine.

There were no suggestions of foul play or an intention by Mr Keaning to harm himself, added the officer.

Assistant coroner for County Durham and Darlington, Oliver Longstaff, said it was clear that Mr Keaning died as a result of an accident after inhaling solvents, though his family struggled to accept he had caused his own death in that way.

Mr Longstaff said: “There is almost inevitably a degree of mystery about Thomas Keaning’s death, mystery is very unsettling for those left behind to deal with.

“Thomas did on occasion inhale solvents, there is no suggestion he was a chronic abuser but the evidence suggests he had inhaled in the past and conclusive evidence he had inhaled shortly before he died.”