A FORMER coronavirus patient who was jailed after fighting police in a hospital ward and trying to infect them with Covid, has died.

At an inquest into the death of Patrick James Lee in Northallerton this afternoon (October 25), assistant coroner, Alison Norton concluded his death was drugs related.

The court heard that Mr Lee was found dead at home in bed in Parliament Street in York early on the morning of Sunday, December 11 last year, just days after he turned 40.

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The court also heard he was found to have potentially fatal levels of prescription methadone in his system along with other non-prescription drugs.

Mrs Norton said he had a history of addiction to alcohol and drugs.

A statement from a police officer, who attended Mr Lee's flat on the day, said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. 

Mrs Norton said: "There is no evidence he intended to take his own life, although I am satisfied that by taking the drugs, he has taken his life without intending to do so."

The court heard that he was finding being out of prison difficult, but that he was being supported by Changing Lives and his current partner.

As The Press reported at the time, Mr Lee was jailed back in January 2021 for 21 months after he pleaded guilty to assaulting two emergency service workers and one charge of coercive and controlling behaviour.

On that occasion the court heard he threatened to bite two police officers who were with Lee in hospital because he had been arrested for controlling and coercive behaviour towards his girlfriend.

He had banged her head repeatedly against a kitchen draining board until she made up a tale of being unfaithful to him and in a different incident jumped on her head.

He had locked her in when he had left the house and had monitored her whereabouts using her phone.

And Recorder Mark McKone at York Crown Court told Mr Lee at the time: “You were tested for Covid-19, your test was positive and you knew that. You showed a complete lack of respect for the police.”

He had previous convictions for domestic violence, York Crown Court heard.

Speaking in court at the time, Mr Lee’s barrister Chris Moran said at the time his client had drug and alcohol problems and had suffered two close family bereavements in four years that had affected him badly.

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