Mixture Of Drugs Found In Musicians Body After Crash

An inquest heard yesterday how 51-year-old Shawn Scott Jones was intoxicated on cocaine, cannabis and alcohol when he narrowly missed a pedestrian before fatally crashing his car into a wall.

Originally from Philadelphia Mr Jones, a musician and father of two from Skerries Rock, Co Dublin, never regained consciousness after the crash on Skerries Road, Rush, after midnight on February 20th last year. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The deceased was a well-regarded blues musician who had played alongside The Who’s Pete Townsend and performed at Electric Picnic, fronting his own band The Shawn Scott Jones Band before his death.

Dublin Coroner’s Court was told Mr Jones had performed at the Michael Collins pub in Rush on the night he died.

A toxicology screen found a significant level of alcohol at 163 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood – twice the legal limit at the time – and both cocaine and cannabis in his system. The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

(H)