Councillor died from drug toxicity after arrest

A former mayor who was arrested on suspicion of an online sexual offence died days later as a result of drug toxicity, an inquest has heard.

Cahal Burke, who died on 9 March, represented the Kirklees Council ward of Lindley in Huddersfield as a Lib Dem councillor from 2010 until his suspension from the party on 4 March. He served as mayor for a year from 2023.

At the opening of an inquest into the death of the 48-year-old at Bradford Coroner's Court earlier, assistant coroner Charlotte Keighley said Burke's provisional cause of death was drug toxicity.

Burke was arrested in February and was on bail at the time of his death. West Yorkshire Police said its investigation remains ongoing.

Keighley said: "Mr Burke's family became concerned about Cahal and attended his address where they found him unresponsive."

Burke, who was divorced, was found by his daughter before emergency services attended. His death was recorded at 10:13 GMT.

A postmortem was undertaken on 12 March and a toxicology report issued.

A full inquest will begin into his death on 7 August.

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