Teen whose vigil sparked riots died from drug overdose, coroner rules

Teenager whose death vigil sparked into riots in Swansea collapsed and died after an ‘unintentional drugs overdose’, coroner rules

• Ethan Powell, 19, collapsed at grandparents’ house in Swansea, Wales, last May
• Friends who gathered for his vigil set fire to vehicles and pelted police with rocks
• Inquest told Ethan used drugs as a teen and was being treated for drug addiction
• A post mortem examination found traces of cocaine and methadone in his blood 

A teenager whose death sparked a riot in Swansea collapsed after an ‘unintentional drug overdose’, a coroner has found.

Ethan Powell, 19, died after being found unresponsive at his grandmother’s home on Lambert Road near the city’s marina on May 18 2021.

A vigil held in Mayhill, two days later in Mr Powell’s memory prompted disorder which saw cars being torched, homes vandalised and riot police attacked.

Ethan Powell (pictured) whose death sparked a riot died from an ‘unintentional drug overdose’, a coroner found, after a post mortem revealed his blood contained a cocktail of drugs

Ethan Powell, 19, (pictured) collapsed and was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. A coroner has ruled his death was the result of an unintentional overdose

Coroner Colin Phillips told an inquest into the youngster’s death in Swansea Guildhall on Monday how Mr Powell’s family had now lost ‘two generations to drugs’. His mother Charmaine having died of a drugs overdose in 2017.

He said the family also wanted to reiterate they did not approve of, or instigate, the riot that followed Mr Powell’s death.

The court was told how Mr Powell was a Swansea City supporter and had been at his grandfather Terrance Rogers’ house watching the team play Barnsley on TV the night before he died.

When he was dropped off at his grandmother Cheryl Rogers’ house where he lived just after 10pm on May 17, he is said to have appeared ‘sober’.

The next morning he awoke around 9am after which Ms Rogers said she heard a ‘bump’ and found her grandson collapsed on the living room floor.

After being treated by paramedics at the scene, Mr Powell was taken to Morriston Hospital in Swansea where he later died.

Friends of Ethan gathered for a vigil in Mayhill, Swansea, supposedly in tribute to Ethan before it descended into chaos. His family said they did not instigate or condone the riots (pictured)

Smoke is seen billowing from a burnt-out car in Swansea as the vigil got out of hand last May

Detective Constable Ben Rayns, from South Wales Police, told the inquest that an investigation ‘concluded there are no suspicious circumstances around the death of Ethan Powell’.

However, he said Mr Powell’s phone was missing and had not been found.

Mr Powell started taking cocaine when he was around 17 or 18 years old, according to his family who noticed how he began to appear thinner. He would also smoke cannabis, they said.

He progressed to smoking heroin and by November 2020 he had started receiving methadone treatment for addiction from his doctor and managed to reduce his use from one gram a day to 0.2 grams.

Although his grandparents said they were unaware of the extent of his drug use, they had noticed an improvement in him around six weeks before his death and thought he was ‘turning his life around’.

During a post-mortem examination, a toxicology report found Mr Powell had traces of cocaine and methadone in his blood.

Pictures taken after the chaos saw the burnt-out shell of a white car on the street in Swansea

Synthetic cannabinoids, commonly referred to as ‘spice’, were also present in his system and therapeutic levels of codeine.

Mr Powell’s cause of death was recorded as hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy and multiple organ dysfunction as a result of cardiac arrest caused by combined drug toxicity.

Mr Phillips said: ‘I find he died from the consequences of an unintentional drug overdose. It was a drug-related death.

‘I offer my sincerest condolences to the family who have lost two generations to drugs, and I hope they get a degree of closure from the inquest today.’

Referring to the riot, Mr Phillips said: ‘The family would like to reiterate that as a family they did not agree with it and in no way did they instigate the riot.

‘It was extremely distressing from their point of view to see what happened and they are concerned about the publicity the inquest will generate.’

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