Oldham mum died after drug addiction and mental health problems

Shabana Mumtaz was found dead at her flat on Ribble Drive in Bury in August last year aged 40.

She was born in Oldham and attended South Chadderton School and then worked in a pharmacy before she got married and had two children.

An inquest into her death at Rochdale Coroner’s Court heard that she suffered from bipolar disorder, self-harm, and had an addiction to smoking heroin and crack cocaine.

After taking the drugs recreationally, she developed an addition after her marriage broke down. 

Shabana’s brother Muhammed Khan said that she turned to the illegal substances as a coping mechanism and her family became aware of her use around six to 12 months after she first starting using them.

Shabana attended a rehabilitation clinic twice and became clean for a period of time but she was always drawn back to drugs.

Mr Khan said: "Shabana's self-harming behaviours helped her to cope with life and we believed her actions were a cry for help.

"Shabana would always tell family members whenever she self-harmed so that she could get the help she needed."

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Mr Khan added his sister appeared to be in good spirits on August 10, the day before she died, and was looking forward to a family barbecue in the coming days.

Her family were aware that she was still taking drugs but had no concerns as she wasn’t taking any more than usual.

Detective Inspector Alana Hughes was on duty on August 11 and was made aware that Shabana had died and said there were suspicions her death was drugs-related.

Shabana was found in her living room and a number of empty medication packets were found near her body. An empty bottle of medicine she had a prescription for was found in her bedroom too.

DI Hughes said that there was no evidence of intent and believes she suffered an accidental or deliberate overdose but couldn’t be sure as to if it was one or the other and that the reasoning was most likely due to her mental health.

Shabana was last seen by her partner who dropped her off at her flat at around 12.30am on August 11.

The court heard she told him she was going to harm herself but this wasn’t viewed as concerning as she would regularly such things, the court was told.

Melanie Ashworth, a registered mental health worker for support service Healthy Minds, spoke about how Shabana had been to see her various times from September 2021 until April last year. Shabana also received sessions from drug and alcohol recovery service Achieve in Bury.

In September 2021, Shabana received a concerning score on a mental health screening at Healthy Minds and a letter was sent to her GP and a referral screening was made with a mental health practitioner.

Throughout further meetings, Shabana shared her life experiences with self-harm and drug addiction.

In January 2022, she said she was in a better place mentally and had not self-harmed in 12 months and had regretted doing so.

She also denied having suicidal thoughts and had reduced her daily amount of crack cocaine.

She engaged well in online courses for her depression and anxiety and said that she took cocaine to give her motivation and energy but felt in control of her addiction.

Shabana was discharged from Healthy Minds last April after having not reported any suicidal thoughts or self-harm.

At Achieve, Shabana was described as very motivated and engaged well in sessions by asking for lots of information and support on how she could help herself.

She was offered to engage in services offered by Achieve but she chose not to do these and instead did four one to one talking therapy sessions. She also went on a four-day course which looked at addiction and brain function.

Shabana also completed a cognitive behavioural therapy course at home and also contacted a recovery academy in Prestwich where she was placed on a waiting list.

The four-day course didn’t make a difference to Shabana’s drug use though, the court was told, and she was still taking crack cocaine, heroin and smoking cannabis daily.

Shabana was due to have another appointment with Achieve on August 17.

Consultant toxicologist Kerry Taylor said that cocaine, nicotine, methadone, morphine, anti-depressants and cannabis were found in Shabana’s blood and a small amount of alcohol was found in her system too.

Pathologist Dr Emil Salmo carried out a postmortem investigation and recorded combined drug toxicity as the cause of death.

Senior coroner Joanne Kearsley agreed that the combined drug toxicity of some medications were at excessive levels which would cause breathing problems.

She added: "No notes were left saying that Shabana intended to take her life and there was no evidence to suggest her death was a suicide."

Ms Kearsley recorded an open conclusion, ruling the cause of death as combined drug toxicity.

She also offered her condolences to her family.