Fitness fanatic killed by cocaine and steroid cocktail

A fitness fanatic from Maidenhead was found to have a cocktail of cocaine and steroids in his system when he died, an inquest heard on Friday.

Mechanic Karl Spindlow, of Bailey Close, travelled to the Isle of Wight with friend Alan Dodd in September to meet former schoolmate Michael Weaving.

After a night drinking at Mr Weaving’s nearby home, Mr Spindlow and Mr Dodd returned to their hotel at around 2.30am. At the hotel Mr Dodd came back into the room and found Mr Spindlow lying on the bed, not breathing, having had an apparent fit.

He made efforts to revive his friend and at one point thought he had done so, but Mr Spindlow again stopped breathing. Paramedics arrived and battled for 40 minutes to save Mr Spindlow but he was pronounced dead at the scene, the hearing at Isle of Wight Coroner’s Court was told.

A post-mortem found Mr Spindlow had died after a massive intake of cocaine. Tests showed he had more than five times the potentially lethal amount in his system, based on previous cases of cocaine overdose.

Tests also revealed anabolic steroids and a higher than therapeutic level of Diltiazem, a drug used to treat hypertension and angina, in his system.

Isle of Wight coroner John Matthews said detectives found cocaine at Mr Weaving’s flat but were satisfied there was no third party involvement in the death. He recorded a verdict of death caused by drug overdose.