‘Loving’ Bury man became ‘different’ before death amid medical cannabis battle
Oliver Robinson, from Bury, died on November 24, 2023, at the age of 34.
He had a history of mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression.
A full inquest into his death started at Rochdale Coroners’ Court today, November 10, and is due to run for five days.
Details around the circumstances of his death were not given at the hearing.
The court heard how Oliver was prescribed medicinal cannabis by Curaleaf in April 2022.
He had previously been clean for around two years, before relapsing in January of the same year.
But his brother, Alexander Robinson, told the inquest how he would get “incredibly angry” when he could not access the drug.
He said Oliver had used cannabis since he was in his early teenage years, from around the age of 13.
Area coroner, Catherine McKenna, asked Alexander about a “change in behaviour” in Oliver in 2022.
The inquest heard that there were several police callouts to their mother’s house, where Oliver lived, before police took out a restraining order preventing him from going near the house.
Alexander said: “Two or three times the police were called out. Mum was living alone with Oliver, and at times he went into a ‘rage mode’.”
He described their mother as being “so scared” and not knowing what to do, but with Alexander living in London, he felt the only advice he could give was for her to call the police.
Rochdale Coroners’ Court (Image: NQ)
The coroner asked Alexander what was happening from the family’s perspective, to which he said: “He would have cannabis first thing in the morning when he woke up, it had been prescribed.
“But when he was not able to get access to cannabis, he would get incredibly angry.”
He added that on occasions he had seen Oliver “punch holes in the wall” and “shouting”.
Ms McKenna asked Alexander how his brother had behaved before 2022, to which he said: “He was a very, very different individual. He was loving, kind and very overly generous.”
But he said that past 2022, Oliver became “incredibly selfish” and “incredibly angry”.
Alexander said his brother was educated at Bury Grammar School, before he studied art and landscape architecture at Manchester Metropolitan University, and that he was self-employed as a property developer.
He also enjoyed “archery, driving, and playing on his Xbox”.
Oliver’s GP, Dr Sanjay Kotegaonkar of Tower Family Healthcare, told of his dealings with the surgery.
He said: “When he was on his day, you thought this was a boy who could do well.”
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But Dr Kotegaonkar added that, at times, he became angry with staff and swore at them.
He also told of occasions when Oliver would threaten to “jump off a bridge”, leading staff to call the police in efforts to get them to check on him.
Oliver Robinson died, aged just 34 (Image: Family)
One of those occasions saw the doctor call an ambulance for him and see him onto it personally.
Dr Kotegaonkar’s final contact with Oliver was on May 22, 2023, where he said he wanted to be referred back to The Priory – a private mental health hospital where he had been previously – to see if they could “treat him for his issues”.
The doctor said: “He continued to talk in a circular manner about the NHS, how no one was helping him, and that we were abandoning him. I tried to make the conversation centred on what we can do moving forward.
“I didn’t feel it was helpful to talk about his previous experience, but what we could do to help him, and then he started to scream at me.
“I have never had anyone scream at me in that way in my life.”
But he added that on a previous occasion, only “weeks earlier”, Oliver had come to him for an appointment where he was “charming and immediately interested”, and where the two had a conversation about the watches they were wearing.
Dr Kotegaonkar added that he “could have sold ice” to the Inuits, as he “was that charming”.
He tried to ring Oliver back, for him to pick up the phone and say he was “never going to see (the doctor) again”.
The inquest continues on Tuesday, November 11, when an expert from medicinal cannabis company Curaleaf is due to give evidence.
Source – INDIA TV
