Coroner attacks Facebook claims
Newsdesk • Published 9 Aug 2010 09:30
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Shaun Biggs
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by Ruth Moulden
A CORONER has hit out at rumours spread on Facebook blaming an innocent man for the death of one of his friends.
Shaun Biggs, 21, of Swepstone Close, Lower Earley, died of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) after celebrating New Year with friends at Smokey Joe’s nightclub in Maidenhead.
At Thursday’s inquest, Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford criticised comments made on the social networking website about Shaun’s friend Stewart Holland.
Mr Bedford said the comments claimed Stewart was responsible for the death, and he said: “I do find it concerning and indeed dangerous that Facebook can be used to make comments that are either
publicly read, or read within a group, which can be used as a way of bullying an individual where it is believed erroneously that they are responsible for these events.
“It is in my view completely wrong and it is unfair that these comments were ever made in that way.”
The inquest, held in Windsor, heard the friends had a good time at the club, but a row broke out at Kingswood Hotel in Maidenhead, where they were staying. Stewart told Vanessa Bell that Shaun was fat, stupid and said he could not have a conversation with him and Vanessa told the others what had been said.
A scuffle broke out between Shaun and Stewart as he went to apologise.
It was broken up but moments later Shaun collapsed and Vanessa described him as 'stone cold’.
After CPR attempts by his friends, paramedics were called and Shaun was taken to Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, where he died at 5.57am on New Year’s Day.
The cause of death was recorded as SADS, but Shaun’s father, Peter Biggs, asked whether the energy drinks he had been drinking with vodka could have caused an irregular heartbeat.
He was told the caffeine levels in Shaun’s body were not excessive.
But Mr Biggs told the inquest: “I would like to make Shaun’s death mean something and not let him die in vain.
“I really feel something needs to be done to warn young people of the risks and the hazards of drinking these energy drinks. They can cause the heart to go into various
different states.”
Pathologist Ashley Fegan-Earl said undetectable abnormalities can cause blood pressure to suddenly drop, causing SADS.
He said Shaun “could have collapsed and died at any point” due to the condition.
Mr Bedford said: “Tragically for Shaun, the combination of events on that particular night did not end happily.
“In the absence of trauma, toxicological causes and natural disease to explain his death, he is likely to have suffered dysrhythmia leading to a sudden cardiac death.”
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