College porter never recovered from pal's death (From Oxford Mail)

College porter never recovered from pal's death

9:30am Wednesday 26th September 2012 in Oxford

An Oxford University porter suffocated himself with a plastic bag after failing to come to terms with his friend’s suicide, an inquest heard yesterday.

David Lord was found at his desk with the bag over his head and with classical music playing on his computer.

An emergency service worker checking for signs of life brushed against the computer’s mouse, refreshing the screen and revealing a suicide note.

The 23-year-old, a night porter at St Catherine’s College, had been hit hard by the death of a good friend just over five months earlier.

Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter read statements from Mr Lord’s housemate, police officers and medical staff.

Samuel O’Brien, who shared the house in Henley Street, said his housemate had been hit hard by his friend’s death.

On May 7 this year he received a call from St Catherine’s asking if he knew where Mr Lord was and why he wasn’t at work. He opened the door after knocking and saw him slumped on his chair in front of a computer with a bag over his head.

A post mortem examination found the cause of death to be suffocation.

There was some alcohol in Mr Lord’s bloodstream and traces of a prescribed antidepressant and a banned recreational drug, methoxetamine – similar to the tranquiliser ketamine.