Eden Henry

On 22 March 2025, Assistant Coroner Lambert commenced an investigation into the death of Eden Dante Henry aged 29 years. The investigation concluded at  the end of the inquest on 15 June 2026.

The conclusion of the inquest was that  the medical cause of death was:  1a acute methamphetamine toxicity 1b substance misuse disorder

I returned the following narrative conclusion.

Eden Henry was 29 years old and had a significant history of crystal meth  addiction. In Autumn 2024, he underwent a 6-month rehabilitation placement  and then moved to local authority hostel accommodation on 13 March 2025.  Eden was concerned about relapsing into substance misuse. Communication  between the substance misuse service, the rehab and the hostel were not fully  documented in the period prior to Eden leaving rehab. Eden was at high risk of  relapse, and it is unclear what measures were in place to monitor and support  him by substance misuse services. In addition, Eden’s substance misuse worker  and his hostel keyworker were on leave during the immediate transition period. On 20 March 2025, Eden was noted to have a badly shaved head. Workers at  the hostel were concerned about possible relapse. There is no evidence that this was escalated to Eden’s substance misuse service or his hostel keyworker  that day, which was a missed opportunity to engage with Eden prior to the  weekend. Eden’s hostel keyworker became aware of his changed appearance at 5 pm on Friday 21 March when he was seen leaving the premises. At 10.30 that  night, Eden was observed on CCTV walking around the hostel naked. Eden was  told by the concierge to return to his room, or the police would be called. Eden  was found barricaded in his room the following morning. He had taken a fatal  amount of crystal meth prior to his death.

In addition to the circumstances set out in the above narrative conclusion, the evidence established the following.  

Crystal meth is a highly addictive drug which disproportionally impacts gay men. When high on crystal meth, users can display disinhibited and risky behaviours.   Where users relapse following a period of abstinence, crystal meth use can  rapidly escalate. Eden’s behaviour when intoxicated on crystal meth had caused problems in previous hostels, where he had experienced homophobia from  other residents. Eden successfully completed a 6-month rehab placement in a  project working on an abstinence only model. The project had a high level of  support and regular drug testing. Eden was ready to move to follow on  accommodation on completion of the rehab programme, but the project’s  follow-on accommodation was located away from Eden’s support networks.  Eden therefore decided to return to Camden where he was housed by the Local  Authority under the Adult Pathway. This supports single homeless adults with  support needs, including substance misuse. Owing to Eden’s past experience in  hostels, he was accommodated in a scheme which is normally aimed at individuals who are at the end of their recovery journey and aiming to move to independent living within 6 to 9 months. This accommodation was chosen  because of its self-contained accommodation and limited shared space with  other residents.