Kerry Katona’s ex died after crushing a ball of cocaine and ‘eating’ it, inquest hears

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The ex-husband of reality TV star Kerry Katona died after crushing a ball of cocaine inside a sock and ‘eating’ the contents, an inquest has heard.   

Former rugby league player George Kay, 39, collapsed with a seizure was rushed to hospital on July 5, 2019, but died later due to the excess effects of the toxic substance. 

Just 12 hours before the tragedy police had been called to the Holiday Inn in Sutton Weaver, Cheshire after Mr Kay was seen wandering around the corridors ‘asking for someone to be his friend.’

Officers said he was hallucinating while under the effects of the drug but let him stay in his room despite noticing traces of cocaine by his bathroom sink. 

A policewoman was later disciplined for not searching Mr Kay or arresting him for possessing cocaine.

Mr Kay, who was married to Kerry between 2014 and 2017, had been seen acting erratically and knocking on other doors at the hotel. Staff called police and officers attended at 9.54pm but left when Mr Kay agreed to return to his room.  

Coroner Peter Sigee today recorded a verdict of drug-related death at an inquest.  

Caroline Garcia, a hotel worker, had told the hearing that at around 7pm a colleague rang her to say there was a guest in the corridor making noise. She went to see what was going on and found a ‘strong, tall man speaking with another lady outside one of the rooms’.

Mr Garcia said: ‘I thought he was drunk or high and I dealt with the situation. He was not making any sense and said he was looking for someone to be his friend.

‘I asked him for ID in order to find his room but he kept constantly saying he was looking for a friend. He was not rude but was not following instructions. I got him into a lift and we were there for around an hour. Another colleague of mine got him some water but he was having difficulty drinking the water.

‘He asked if I would prepare cocaine for him, but I said I wouldn’t do that… He said there was a man in his room but we went to his room and we confirmed there was no one else there. He was refusing to go into the room and was saying it was not his.’

Barman Michael Hulme said: ‘Mr Kay was behaving in an erratic manner and the manager was present encouraging him to go back to his room. He was not a threat but he was unpredictable. He asked for cocaine and was told he couldn’t have it.

‘We got him to his room and he appeared to be making no sense. He said he had family at the hotel, which we knew wasn’t the case and I saw some type of white powder in the bathroom which I thought might be cocaine.’

Luke Smith, a food and beverage supervisor at the hotel, said Mr Kay had been ‘agitated and annoyed with himself’, wanting to enter the room but ‘it was as if something was stopping him’. 

‘I was concerned about how he might have mental health issues,’ Mr Smith said.

‘Whilst I was standing in the door, I saw white powder in the bathroom. The following morning he needed house keeping to let him back into his room. He pulled out a sock with a large ball and was sat in a chair. He caused the ball to crumble by crushing it and I believed it was drugs. He became very unwell, so we put him in the recovery position and called an ambulance.’

Manager Craig Ponsford said Mr Kay had been knocking on another guest’s door, behaving in a ‘paranoid and erratic way’. 

Mr Ponsford added: ‘He said he was at the hotel for a family function, but we knew was wasn’t true. He kept saying he wanted someone to be his friend.

‘We got him to his room and there was around 1/2 teaspoon of white powder in the bathroom. He had calmed down by now and seemed okay and asked for a pizza. 

‘I was asking police about on what grounds we could get him removed as I was concerned about his mental health. They said there was no grounds to get him removed.’

Cheshire Police said cocaine worth £100 with a high purity was found in the room. 

PC Declan Corcoran said: ‘The hotel staff were concerned about a male wandering around and banging on doors refusing to go back to his room.

‘When we got there, he was quite calm. He understood that he had been taking drugs. He said he had taken the substance in the bathroom about one hour ago. He said he had been seeing shadows and that he saw wasps in his room. He realised he had been hallucinating. He said he was struggling with his mental health because of issues in his personal life. He admitted to taking cocaine that evening.’

The policewoman, who cannot be named, said: ‘It looked like he had sniffed a line of cocaine off the side of the sink. If there was half a teaspoon of cocaine, I would have taken it as analysis but there wasn’t much there at all.

‘I did not believe it was enough to arrest him for possession of drugs. The remnants of cocaine were left in the bathroom. I was mainly concerned about his welfare.’

The hearing was told Mr Kay played rugby for Warrington U21’s and went on to play for Sale, Lancashire and Widnes. 

His mother Hilary said: ‘He had taken recreational drugs from a young age and I was aware of his drug taking in May 2019.

‘He had a social life which involves various celebrity friends and they would provide money and there was talk about helping him set up a business abroad. He took a trip to Australia to watch a Rugby tournament. He had a lovely time and was not taking any drugs or alcohol at that time. There has been occasions in the past where he had become agitated from his drug usage.

‘He knew he had problems but he was a lovely lad who made friends easily. He was kind and would do anything to help anyone. He had personal difficulties which may have increased his drug taking.’ 

Recording a verdict of drug related death, coroner Peter Sigee said: ‘Police officers were called to attend because Mr Kay was behaving in an effective manner. 

‘He admitted to taking drugs, he was calm and police did not consider it lawful to arrest or search him. They did not think he required an urgent medical assessment and they left.

‘On the morning of 6 July, he was seen to eat a quantity of cocaine and then collapse. It is not possible to say now he came into possession of the cocaine he took on that morning but I am satisfied the death was drug related.’

Mr Kay met Kerry when they were at school together but started dating in 2012 after bumping into each other in Warrington.

They married in September 2014, five months after she had their daughter Dylan-Jorge, now aged seven but split in 2015 and divorced two years later. 

Earlier this year Kerry, 40, told of her ‘anger’ over George’s ‘selfish’ addiction that has left Dylan-Jorge without a father.