A CORONIAL inquest into the death of an inmate at Cessnock jail in 2020 will explore how the 34-year-old ingested powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl in the hours before he died.
The 34-year-old died as a result of fentanyl toxicity while an inmate housed in a two-out cell at Shortland Correctional Centre on September 14, 2020.
A three-day inquest into the man's death will begin today in the NSW State Coroner's Court at Lidcombe, with a focus on his arrival into custody with another inmate at Shortland Correctional Centre on September 13 and death in the early hours of September 14.
It is believed that, before being placed into a cell together, both inmates were strip searched by corrective services officers and nothing was found.
The inquest is expected to hear from the dead man's cellmate, who had been arrested during a police raid four days earlier while attempting to manufacture fentanyl at a Hunter home.
Police said at the time of the cellmate's arrest that they uncovered a "clandestine lab" and found two grams of fentanyl in the laundry.
He later pleaded guilty to manufacturing an indictable quantity of fentanyl and last year was sentenced to a two-and-a-half year intensive corrections order (ICO) with 200 hours of community service. Fentanyl is an opioid prescribed for chronic or severe pain and is about 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine.
All deaths in custody are investigated by the NSW State Coroner and with questions about the inmate's identity, location, date and cause of death already answered the three-day inquest - which will be overseen by Deputy State Coroner Magistrate Carolyn Huntsman - will focus on the manner of his death and how he ingested fentanyl while in custody.
