Herm worker drank himself to death

Saturday 30 November 2019

A 'trend' among Polish staff in Herm of drinking neat vodka during their socials has left a man dead, Guernsey's Court has heard.

Maciej Jaskiewicz, 28, was found to have died from positional asphyxia due to alcohol intoxication, and a verdict of accidental death was returned at his inquest yesterday.

Mr Jaskiewicz lived on the campsite, where he worked as the campsite warden. He first went to Herm in July 2016 to work in the hotel trade, left in October 2017, and then returned again earlier this year for his new job. He was said to be planning on staying long term to work on the 'island estate'. 

But on Sunday 3 November this year all of the staff held a get together to say good bye to the seasonal workers on the island, and by early the next morning, Mr Jaskiewicz was found dead. He was found to be 4.3 times the legal drink drive limit.

The Court heard how staff had come and gone from the event throughout the evening, and that there was a "trend among the Polish staff" to drink neat vodka.

Pictured: A crowd funding page was set up to help pay for Mr Jaskiewicz's repatriation after his shock death.

At 18:13, Mr Jaskiewicz met with two other hotel staff in the White House Canteen, where they watched TV and listened to music while drinking neat vodka. They had 5.5 litres available to them. After around 30 minutes, they went back to the main area people were using to socialise, known as 'the pink hut'. 

At around 21:30, Mr Jaskiewicz and a friend helped another colleague back to his room because he was so drunk, and then returned to the hut. 

At 01:00 the following morning, Monday 4 November, Mr Jaskiewicz was seen by colleagues lying on the sofa of the pink hut vomiting. After about 30 minutes, they checked he was okay - he nodded - and left. Around 02:00 they came back and checked he was okay again. This time he was lying on the floor, but again nodded. He was last seen alive at 02:30 lying on the floor on his stomach, and his colleagues gave him a pillow to sleep on. 

It was at 07:00 in the morning a colleague returned and found Mr Jaskiewicz passed out on the floor, but did not think that was unusual. Only at 10:00 when he still hadn't awoken were the Hotel Management called and the Emergency Services notified. Mr Jaskiewicz had purple nails and rigour mortis seemed to have already set in. 

At 12:55 police and a doctor arrived in Herm, and at 13:05 Mr Jaskiewicz was declared officially dead.

In a post mortem exam he was found to have an alcohol reading of 367mg per 100ml of blood, which is 4.3 times the legal drink drive limit. No recreational drugs were found to have been used. 

His body was released to be repatriated to Poland, and the Court gave its sympathies to his family. There was a crowd funding page set up to support this, which can be found here. 

Pictured top: Maciej Jaskiewicz.