Dead son's friends under fire

By THERESA GARNER

The mother of a 22-year-old man who died from a fatal overdose of a party drug says she wonders how his friends feel at their role in his death.

The inquest into the death of promising engineering student Shawn Jacob Brenner in April 2001 was held yesterday in Auckland.

In the three hours after he took a dose of 1,4 butanediol, known as One4b, at his Ponsonby flat, Mr Brenner had convulsions, fell unconscious, vomited in his sleep and lost colour in his face.

Carol Brenner, in court with her husband, Auckland gynaecologist Dr Bertie Brenner, questioned the actions of her son's friends that day.

"What do they think of themselves now? How must they feel knowing that calling for an ambulance much earlier may have saved Shawn's life?"

Statements to the court show Mr Brenner and his girlfriend, Michelle Frenkel, consumed One4b, a variant of Fantasy or gamma-hydroxy-butyrate, often called GBH, about 3.45pm on April 27.

Mr Brenner's friends put him in the recovery position, covered him with a sleeping bag and kept a watch on him and Ms Frenkel, whom they believed were asleep. They checked on Mr Brenner's breathing until 7pm when they could not get a pulse.

Ambulance officers arrived to find Mr Brenner's heart had stopped. He had inhaled large quantities of vomit. He was taken to Auckland Hospital and declared braindead at 3.30pm the next day. Ms Frenkel spent six hours on a ventilator before waking up.

In a statement to the police, one friend, David Gee, said: "I think someone suggested taking them to a hospital but we didn't really consider it because I guess we had all seen it before."

A statement by Brendon Andrew Jones said Mr Brenner had used One4b at least once a month for a year without problems.

In the witness box, Katerina Cowper, 24, said: "If I thought they had deteriorated where they needed to be taken to a hospital, I would have taken them to a hospital."

Carol Brenner told the court her son was well adjusted and happy.

"His death from a drug overdose was a real shock to all the family as none of us were aware of his drug-taking."

Peter Brosnahan, QC, acting for Mr Jones, referred to photographs found at the house which showed the book GHB: The Natural Mood Enhancer. The book says people have made fools of themselves by taking drug-takers to hospital unnecessarily.

The Brenner family have asked the coroner to find that the fatal dose of GBH was supplied by others, that the quantity given was dangerous and that calling for help faster might have saved Shawn Brenner's life.

They want attention drawn to the dangers of GBH, and letting people "sleep off" an overdose.

Coroner Sarn Herdson reserved her finding and said her report could be up to three months away, because any adverse finding would be shown to the parties in advance.