Three protonitazene deaths in Newham and Redbridge, court told

They included a man who laid dead for hours on Newham’s Little Ilford estate, where residents were so used to finding drug addicts unconscious on their doorsteps that they just walked past him.

Another was found dead in a tent in a Canning Town park, while the third overdosed in the toilet at Newbury Park Tube station.

All three had protonitazene in their systems – a central nervous system depressant which can be used for pain relief and sedation, but is lethal even in very small doses if used recreationally.

According to health journal The Lancet, it is 100 times more powerful than heroin, making it twice as powerful as fentanyl, the drug which killed Prince, Mac Miller and Lil Peep.

The government upgraded it to a Class A illegal drug earlier this year.

“Protonitazene is an increasingly observed feature of deaths within this jurisdiction,” said Graeme Irvine, senior coroner for east London.

“Certainly, two years ago they were entirely unheard of. In the last 18 months, they have grown in prevalence. This causes me real concern.”

Mr Irvine called it a “novel synthetic opioid”. He formally opened inquests into all three victims’ deaths at East London Coroner’s Court in Walthamstow on Friday, July 12.

Nerijus Kaleda was found dead in a tent at Hermit Road Recreation Ground, off of Bethell Avenue in Canning Town. He had been dead for 'a significant period of time' (Image: Google Streetview)

The first victim

Homeless man Nerijus Kaleda, 45, was found dead on April 25, 2024 – but may have died earlier.

The London Ambulance Service was called to the Hermit Road Recreation Ground in Bethell Avenue, Canning Town, where Nerijus had been living. He was found prone inside his tent.

“He was obviously deceased,” said Mr Irvine. “His joints had stiffened, indicative of rigor mortis.”

It was clear Nerijus “had been dead for a significant period of time”, the court heard.

Toxicology tests found alcohol, cocaine, a potentially lethal level of morphine and a low level of protonitazene in his system.

Protonitazene is “far stronger than traditional opioids”, Mr Irvine said, but the amount in Nerijus’s system was not enough on its own to have killed him.

Pathologist Professor Alan Bates gave his primary cause of death as “multi-drug toxicity”.

The second protonitazene victim, Radoslav Stankov, was found dead outside Charlbury House on Newham's Little Ilford estate. The Newham Recorder had interviewed residents just weeks earlier, who voiced fears that it wouldn't be long before somebody died there (Image: Charles Thomson)

The second victim

Homeless Bulgarian man Radoslav Stankov, 39, was found “laying facing down near the bins” at the back of Charlbury House, Grantham Road, on April 30.

Rigor mortis had already set in, meaning he had laid dead for hours on the Little Ilford estate.

His body was covered in needle marks, the court heard.

His backpack, found nearby, contained “drugs paraphernalia including syringes and needles”. He had no ID but was identified by police from Ilford.

That identification was confirmed from photos of Radoslav on the police computer.

Toxicology tests found cocaine, heroin and protonitazene in his system, but the quantity of the latter was “unmeasurable”.

Professor Bates gave Radoslav’s primary cause of death as multi-drug toxicity.

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Weeks before Radoslav Stankov's death, tenants of the Little Ilford estate in Grantham Road showed the Recorder shocking images of drug users passed out inside and outside their homes (Image: Supplied)

The third victim

Moldovan man Igor Razmerita, 35, of Cantley Gardens in Newbury Park, was found unconscious in the toilet at Newbury Park Tube station on May 1 – the day after Radoslav’s death.

When staff noticed the toilet had been locked from the inside for some time, they called police.

Officers gained entry and found Igor laying on his front in a foetal position with his head by the toilet. He was unresponsive.

He was taken by ambulance to King George Hospital in Goodmayes, but was pronounced dead at 11.29pm.

Professor Bates found Igor had died of heroin and protonitazene toxicity.

The court heard he had suffered a previous overdose in December 2023, but it was not stated what drugs he had consumed on that occasion.

Igor Razmerita was found unresponsive, locked in the toilet at Newbury Park Tube station. He later died at King George Hospital (Image: Google Streetview)

“Grave concern”

Mr Irvine said the coroner service had a policy of referring all protonitazene deaths to the relevant local public health officer, which he had done in all three cases.

He said all three inquests would investigate the prevalence of protonitazene deaths and he would seek evidence from the police and local authorities about what they were doing to monitor and tackle the growing problem.

He added that it was also of “grave concern” that Nerijus had been living in a tent, particularly as his court had issued past “prevention of future deaths” reports about the “failure of state agencies to mitigate risks presented by people living homeless in the east London area.”

All three inquests were listed to take place on January 9.