"HE made a mistake. It cost him his life, " said Martin Ade Onojobi, whose son Laurence (20), from Blanchardstown in Dublin, died seven months ago from heart failure caused by cocaine toxicity. "I was aware he was dabbling in drugs.

I warned him. But young people do not listen to their parents, they listen to their peers, " he told the Sunday Tribune. Following an inquest into his son's death on Tuesday, a death certificate can now finally be issued, bringing the family some closure. "He was a nice young boy. No parents want to lose their child. He was into basketball and karate. He was a happy young man, always having a laugh with his friends."

Ade Onojobi was born in Ireland and his son grew up here having spent a couple of years in Nigeria as a child. Before his death, he had just completed a Safe Pass F�s course to work in the construction sector. Ade Onojobi, who does not drink or smoke, believes drugs were too readily available to his youngest child. "I condemn the use of all drugs. His death, like any death, was a complete shock."

Four other families joined the Ade Onojobi's at Dublin County Coroner's Court on Tuesday and listened to similar pathological evidence that concluded cocaine claimed five young lives.

Tony Power, whose daughter Karen (25), from Clondalkin, Dublin, died suddenly in the Tara Towers Hotel in Dublin after she consumed a large quantity of cocaine, kept his head bowed as he listened to the circumstances of his daughter's death. Members of the family of David Dunne (26), also from Clondalkin, who jumped from a hotel window after he discovered his partner dead in bed, were visibly upset as they heard how he appeared "out of it" and distressed before he jumped to his death. Angela McKevitt, whose brother Roy Flynn (31), from Co Meath, died alongside Laurence Ade Onojobi after the pair consumed copious amounts of cocaine, told the inquest she thought her brother only used drugs "recreationally".

It is no coincidence that Dublin County Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty held the five inquests on the same day. He had a point to make. "I think people should be more aware and very wary of the use of cocaine. It is a very dangerous drug and can be fatal even in small doses, " he told the court.

This same message has been driven home numerous times in the past few years by various groups trying to highlight that despite its image as a "safe" drug, cocaine can kill. "The use of cocaine has been on a noticeable increase in the last few years and this is partly due to the country's prosperity, " Prof Joe Barry at the Department of Public Health at Trinity College Dublin said. "Cocaine is very different to heroin but it is also a class A drug. It's very difficult not to get addicted to heroin but people using cocaine can build up a tolerance. People who use cocaine do not come to the attention of the health services or the authorities as much so it's harder to evaluate its use. But the five inquests highlight that it can be catastrophic, " he added.

The umbrella organisation Citywide, which represents 28 treatment centres across Dublin, recently carried out a survey on cocaine in local communities and found that 62% of clients at their centres are presenting with cocaine as their main problem drug. Just two years ago, this figure was at 14%. Susan Collins, coordinator of Addiction Response Crumlin (Arc), warned last month that children as young as 11 are selling cocaine to children of the same age in Dublin 12.

According to the Health Research Board (HRB), 48 people reported cocaine as their main problem drug in 1999 compared to 458 in 2005 - a tenfold increase. In 2000, two deaths occured due to cocaine alone and this increased to nine in 2004. However, "these figures are an underestimate of cocaine-related deaths" as the data analysed does not take into account deaths where other drugs were also consumed, according to the HRB.

It is common practice in Ireland for people using cocaine to consume other drugs at the same time, usually alcohol. "Taking cocaine and alcohol creates cocaethlyene, which is cardiotoxic. Your heart can then stop. It is a very unpredictable drug, more so when mixed with alcohol, " Barry added. But more worrying, he continued, is that while medical research has discovered the short-term psychological effects of the drug, there is little known about the long-term psychological effects.

Barry is hopeful that the myth about cocaine as a "risk-free drug" will finally begin to disappear in light of the five inquests last week.

"I'm getting over my son's death, " Ade Onojobi said. "I have no message for young people. They do not listen to their parents. They reach a certain age and then their peers' opinions are more important."

Deaths connected with cocaine use are becoming an increasing feature of inquests, particularly in Dublin. Here, Tribune journalist Ali Bracken recalls 10 she has attended David Dunne (26) and Karen Power (25) died August 2006 THE young couple were taking cocaine together in the Tara Tower Hotel, Booterstown, Dublin, when Dunne realised his partner appeared to be unconscious, possibly dead, early in the morning of 28 August. He made a panicked phone call to reception and a duty manager quickly went up to their sixth-floor room.

"Please do something. She is my life, " he told manager Sophie Brianne when she arrived. Brianne said he was highly distressed and under the influence of the drugs before he left the room while she checked for a pulse on Power, who was lying on the bed.

Another member of staff was sent in search of Dunne and found him sitting on a windowsill on the sixth floor. At this stage, garda� and other emergency services were at the scene. When Milan Becka discovered Dunne, he immediately went to inform garda�. When garda� then tried to approach Dunne, he jumped. "He was holding onto the window frame. He looked over his left shoulder at us and immediately let go of the ledge and jumped, " garda James O'Leary told the inquest.

Postmortems confirmed that Power died suddenly from cocaine intoxication and had a potentially fatal level in her system. Dunne had consumed much less cocaine and also had a moderate level of alcohol in his system at the time of his death. He died from multiple injuries due to the fall.

The couple, who had attended a wedding in the nearby Radisson hotel the previous night, had celebrated the birth of their first child, Callum, just six weeks earlier.

Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty recorded a verdict of misadventure in the case of Power and a verdict of death by suicide in the case of Dunne.

Stephen Wade (18) died November 2006 STEPHEN Wade, from Darndale in north Dublin, was discovered dead in the stairwell of an apartment block in Howth, Co Dublin, on November 3 2006. Deputy state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis carried out a post mortem on the young man's remains and his report stated that "cocaine intoxication" caused death. Wade had also consumed alcohol.

Garda Cormac Jevens from Howth station said Wade was discovered lying in the stairwell of the apartment block with a knife beside him. His phone was also found smashed in three pieces beside him, he told the court. He was wearing no shoes and just one sock.

Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty returned an open verdict.

Bernard Murphy (42) died May 2006 BERNARD Murphy, a recovering cocaine addict, was regularly given free samples of cocaine by drug dealers and committed suicide because he could no longer cope with life. Murphy was living in support housing in Dublin for people who were previously homeless and was discovered dead in his bedsit by his brother on 9 May last year. He had hanged himself.

A "cocktail of drugs" were found in the man's system including cocaine, methadone, anti-depressants and another drug usually mixed with cocaine. Richard Murphy told the inquest that his brother was an intravenous cocaine user.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell returned an open verdict.

Martin Prendergast (32) died October 2004 MARTIN Prendergast, from Finglas in Dublin, fell nine storeys to his death at Ballymun Towers after consuming a cocktail of drugs. An inquest into his death heard that he may have been hallucinating at the time. Prendergast had consumed a significant quantity of methadone as well as cocaine, codeine and sedatives, a toxicology report indicated.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell returned an open verdict and said, "I believe the drugs were instrumental in his fall."

Gerard Browne (30) died September 2006 GERARD Browne, of Drumcairn Gardens in Tallaght, was discovered dead in his bedroom by his mother on 25 September. He overdosed from the combined effects of cocaine, methadone and the anaesthetic drug lignocaine.

Frances Browne told the inquest that she was aware her son had struggled with drugs in the past. The night before his death, he went to his girlfriend's house before returning home at about 11pm and going into his bedroom.

Coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty returned a verdict of death by misadventure and said: "There are five inquests today where death has been related to the use of cocaine. It's a very dangerous drug."

Elaine O'Sullivan (34) died Christmas Eve 2005 ELAINE O'Sullivan, from Dun Laoghaire in south Dublin, became engaged to her fianc� on Christmas Eve 2005 but died a few hours later on Christmas morning from a brain aneurysm that may have been undiagnosed since birth.

The couple had been celebrating their engagement the night before by snorting lines of cocaine, drinking champagne and smoking cannabis. The cocaine in O'Sullivan's system was not a factor in her death. While cocaine can elevate blood pressure, this appeared to be a coincidental finding in her death.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell recorded a verdict of natural causes.

Laurence Ade Onojobi (20) and Roy Flynn (31) died October 2006 THE two men were discovered on the living room floor of a house in Blanchardstown by members of Dublin Fire Brigade on October 15. Philip Kenny, who lived at the address with Ade Onojobi, came home at about 3.30pm and found his housemate and his friend in the living room but didn't stay long.

"I went in and saw a fella on the sitting room floor. He was unconscious and looked dead. Larry was walking around the sitting room. He was rambling, not making sense. I rang an ambulance and said, 'One fella is dead and another one is going to die'. . . I don't know what happened to Larry and Roy after I left the house." Asked by the coroner why he didn't wait for the ambulance, Kenny replied: "[Larry] didn't want any assistance. He was just freaked out."

The emergency services found white powder on the floor, windowsill and in a plastic bag in the kitchen. When they were removed from their stretchers at the hospital, white powder was scattered on the stretchers. Post mortems confirmed both men had very high levels of cocaine in their system and died from cocaine toxicity.

A verdict of death by misadventure was returned in both cases by coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty.

Dean Fleming (17) died in July 2005 DEAN Fleming, Ballymun, Dublin, overdosed and died after a man in his 30s shared an array of drugs with the teenager.

Fleming consumed a cocktail of drugs including methadone, cocaine, sleeping tablets, opiates and cannabis. Fleming and his young friend Dean Fay called into their older friend's home and spent the night taking drugs. When Fay awoke the next day, he discovered Fleming was unconscious and his lips were blue. He then left the house but understood that the older man was calling an ambulance.

However, an ambulance was not called for two hours and Fleming died in hospital a few weeks later on 21 July.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell returned a verdict of death by misadventure.