Jay Woolsey, 33, was found dead in his apartment after taking methamphetamine and a powerful opioid -N-pyrrolidino isotonitazene – a nitazene that is 20 times stronger than fentanyl
An inquest into the tragic death of a father-of-one has revealed he took a lethal new opioid bought from the dark web.
Jay Woolsey, a resident of Portadown, Northern Ireland, was discovered lifeless by his mother and police at his flat on Friday, August 9, 2024.
He had reportedly consumed methamphetamine and a potent opioid – N-pyrrolidino isotonitazene – a nitazene variant that’s 20 times more powerful than fentanyl and several times stronger than morphine.
It’s suspected that Jay procured the drugs online through the dark web, but it remains unclear whether he knew he was ingesting a nitazene drug, possibly believing he was taking something less potent
Nitazenes, synthetic opioids, have emerged in Northern Ireland over the past 18 months to two years and have only been detected post-mortem, with fatalities linked to these drugs on the rise. The inquest held at Banbridge Courthouse revealed that the 33-year-old’s cause of death was bronchitis and pneumonia, directly triggered by the nitazenes and exacerbated by the methamphetamines.
The respiratory failures developed rapidly in an otherwise perfectly healthy man, reports Belfast Live. Giving evidence at the inquest, Jay’s mum Gillian McCann said she had been speaking to her son the day before he was found dead and that he had been excited to meet up with his family.
She had attended his apartment on August 9 after not hearing from him and got help to access the property after he would not respond at the door. She discovered Jay seated on a chair in front of his television having already died and he was last spotted the day before by a neighbour at around 6.30pm.
She described her “charismatic and loving” son, who was a gifted musician, as having battled addiction and mental health issues but had been in a positive frame of mind in the weeks leading up to his death and had recently begun a new job. However, she was unaware of the full extent of her son’s drug use, thinking he only consumed alcohol and cannabis.
In the months after his death, Gillian accessed her son’s laptop and discovered from his browsing history that Jay had been researching the effects of certain drugs and cryptocurrency payments and later handed it over to police. The inquest heard that there was evidence of drug use throughout Jay’s flat, along with packaging that appeared to show that drugs had been delivered to him.
Detective Duffin informed the inquest that because of how dark web sites operate, it proved impossible to trace where the substances had originated from or whether Jay had tried to buy something different to nitazenes. He explained that he’s familiar with UK cases where individuals have died from nitazene overdoses whilst believing they were consuming benzodiazepines.
The toxicology examination revealed that Jay had multiple substances in his system when he died, including nitazenes, methamphetamine, MDMA and cannabis, though it was established that the nitazenes were the main cause. Pathologist Dr Egan informed the inquest that mixing nitazenes with methamphetamines could result in an “unpredictable” outcome.
Gillian McCann shared with the inquest that Jay’s death has left their family shattered, especially his teenage son, but they harbour no embarrassment about how he passed away and now campaign vocally for improved addiction and mental health services in Northern Ireland. Bringing the inquest to a close, Coroner Toal offered her condolences to Jay’s relatives and acknowledged all those who had provided testimony.
She delivered a sobering caution about the risks posed by nitazenes, which have only emerged in NI within the past two years, and purchasing substances from the dark web, warning that buyers may not receive what they believe they’re purchasing.
