Killer died due to using Spice in prison
Getty ImagesA prisoner who was jailed for beating a man to death and setting fire to his flat died due to using synthetic cannabinoids, an inquest has heard.
Stephen Raymond Metcalfe, 47, was found unresponsive in his cell at HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire, and later pronounced dead in hospital.
Metcalfe had been jailed in 2005 for the manslaughter of Dalton Hussey on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
He had been a prisoner at Lowdham Grange since November 2023, until his death on 30 December 2024.
Died by misadventure
Assistant Coroner Simon Burge said his medical cause of death was the use of synthetic cannabinoids, known as Spice, with the secondary cause of death given as coronary artery atheroma.
The inquest heard Metcalfe was found unresponsive in his cell at 14:23 GMT, and various prison and health care staff tried to help him.
This included giving him cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which resulted in a return of spontaneous circulation.
He was then taken by ambulance to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.
During the investigation into Metcalfe's death, drug paraphernalia including modified vapes as a means of inhaling Spice were found in his possessions.
He is one of several prisoners to have died due to using drugs at the prison, and jurors in a separate inquest in April said drug use was "recognised as being a major problem" there.
The coroner concluded he died by misadventure, by way of obtaining and consuming synthetic cannabinoids at HMP Lowdham Grange.
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