Dolores O’Riordan, the lead singer of the Cranberries, drowned in a bath as a result of intoxication from alcohol, an inquest has found.
The inquest at inner west London coroner’s court, held on what would have been O'Riordan's 47th birthday, heard that she had been drinking heavily before she was found dead in room 2005 of the Hilton hotel in Park Lane, London, at about 9am on 15 January. (source TheGuardian)
Her alcohol level was 330mg per 100ml of blood, more than four times the legal limit for driving of 80mg. The court heard that she had struggled for many years with bipolar disorder and excessive drinking.
O’Riordan, who had been in London for a recording session, was found by a maid the morning after she checked into the hotel. She was submerged face up in the bath, wearing a long-sleeved vest and pyjama bottoms. When paramedics arrived, police were performing CPR on her in the bathroom. At 9.16am she was declared dead.
Evidence was found of heavy drinking and smoking and use of prescription drugs including lorazepam. Five empty miniatures from the minibar, which had been accessed at 2.10am, were discovered as well as a 35cl bottle of cham
pagne.
A postmortem report by Dr Adam Combe concluded that O’Riordan drowned as a result of alcohol intoxication. Levels of medication in her blood were therapeutic, no note was found and police said after her death that it was not suspicious.
The coroner, Dr Shirley Radcliffe, said: “There’s no evidence that this was anything other than an accident. There was no intention, this seems to be solely a tragic accident.”
The inquest heard that the Irish singer’s bipolar disorder had responded well to treatment. She went through periods of abstention from alcohol but there were also bouts of excessive drinking.
