An inquest has heard that a mum from Prestwich took drugs and had been drinking in the hours leading up to her death.

Kimberley McAssey, known as Kim by her family and friends, died on February 21, 2021, at a friend’s flat on Sherbourne Court in Prestwich.

The 29-year-old mum of one was born in Salford, lived on Cuckoo Lane in Prestwich at the time of her death and worked at Armstrongs chip shop on Bury Old Road.

In an inquest held at Rochdale Coroner’s Court, Kim’s mum Carrie McAssey, told the court: “Kim was a happy child and made friends easily and always made sure no one was left out.

“She was always there to lend a helping hand and a listening ear to friends and family, and she would put others before herself.

“She was cheeky, funny, silly and a child at heart and she was her own person and that’s what made her so special.

“She cherished her family, and she loved her niece and nephew dearly and she adored her daughter.

“Kim leaving us has turned our lives upside down.”

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Kim had her daughter in 2013 but was no longer with the father and moved to her flat on Cuckoo Lane in 2018.

Kim was in a relationship with a man called Simon McMullen, but they didn’t live together and their relationship was described as “up and down”.

Carrie said that she would see her daughter almost daily and they would always keep in touch.

She added that she only found out that Kim took drugs after her death.

At the beginning of February 2021, Kim said that she felt ill and it was discovered that she had contracted Covid-19 and she began a period of self isolation.

Her mum would go round to her flat to drop off food whilst Kim would just be resting.

Carrie last saw Kim on February 16 and had no concerns about her and they last spoke on the phone on the afternoon of February 19.

On February 21, Carrie and Kim’s daughter were walking around to Kim’s flat to see if she was in but there was no response and when she tried calling it would go straight to voicemail.

Carrie said that this was very out of character for Kim as she would message all the time.

At around 4pm, police contacted her to say that Kim had died.

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In a statement read out in court, Kim’s friend Nicola Ryan said that she had been best friends with Kim for three years as they lived in the same block of flats in Prestwich.

Nicola said: “I spent time with her in February, she had been down and having Covid had affected her.

“Kim had depression and was up and down and she would drink socially and if she felt sad.

“She would use cocaine, and we would take it together, but not a lot. Last time we had it was December 2020.”

She added that Kim was struggling for money, had issues with damp in her flat and was in debt with bills.

Her relationship with Simon was described as “toxic” and her daughter currently lived with her mum and dad, but Kim was working hard to get the finances and flat sorted out to get her daughter back.

It was discovered that Ryan Sheridan, Kim’s friend lived at the flat on Sherbourne Court and Nicola said that Kim and Ryan were just friends.

Nicola said: “On February 19 I left before 10am to go to work and saw Kim in her flat.

“I rang Kim at 10pm and she sounded like she had had a drink, and she said she was sorting out her flat.

“On February 20 I didn’t see Kim but on Sunday I saw Kim’s mum at her door.

“Officers then came to the door, and I said I hadn’t seen Kim since Friday.”

A friend called Nicola to tell her that Kim had died.

Jamie Davis, a paramedic who attended the scene arrived at Sherbourne Court at 12.27pm.

He said that the bedroom floor was cluttered and Kim was lying on the bed facing upwards.

There was a male and female in the living room who were both having a cigarette.

The male, who was Ryan looked visibly upset and he said that Kim was his friend.

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Jamie said: “Ryan said that Kim arrived at midnight on February 19 and they were friends and they were meeting each other to catch up.

“When they had had a drink, Kim asked him if he had any drugs and he had MDMA, they took it, had drinks and then went into the bedroom to have sex.”

Ryan asked her if she wanted anything, and she said a glass of water.

When he went back into the bedroom a short time later, she was cold to the touch.

She was thought to have died at around 6am on Saturday, February 20 and Jamie said he found the situation very suspicious that there had been a delay in reporting her death.

Ryan said that he had panicked, and he didn’t know what to do.

Police arrived and Ryan was led to a police van in handcuffs. He was later released on bail, pending investigation, and the inquest is due to hear evidence from police on Tuesday.

Kim’s boyfriend Simon McMullen said he first met Kim around three to four years ago and “she was a great laugh and very funny”.

He said: “She had bouts of anxiety and was sometimes up and down with her mood.”

They would have verbal arguments and shout at each other.

He wasn’t aware of Kim meeting other men, whether that was just as friends or anything more.

Simon said that they spoke to each other throughout Friday, February 19 through phone and text and had heard she had gone out to see friends.

Forensic pathologist Dr Philip Lumb carried out the post-mortem examination on Kim.

He said he attended the scene of the incident and concluded that the medical cause of death is undetermined as there was no clear evidence from the internal and external examinations conducted.

Forensic toxicologist Mark Tyler said that alcohol, MDMA and amphetamine which could have been part of the MDMA.

He said that the MDMA levels were high and above the levels people would normally take recreationally and the levels were in the range of values that have been seen causing fatalities, however it’s unknown if this was the case in Kim’s case.

Emma Heydon, Ryan Sheridan’s mum gave evidence and said that Ryan had lived at Sherbourne Court for 11 years.

She said that she didn’t know Kim personally, but she had seen her over video calls that Ryan had made and she thought Ryan and Kim were just friends.

Emma said that she was aware that Ryan used drugs, but only cocaine and marijuana.

She said that on Sunday, February 21 she woke up at around 10.40am and saw that Ryan had sent her a message at around 9.30am which read: “I urgently need to see you I’d like you to come here.”

Emma called Ryan to ask what had happened and he told her that Kim had come over, they’d drank and taken drugs and she had died in his bed.

Emma asked why he hadn’t called the police and he just said he didn’t know, she said he sounded quiet and solemn on the phone.

Ryan told her he had tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Kim twice.

When asked by Coroner Joanne Kearsley why she hadn’t phoned the police immediately, Emma said: “The whole thing, I was in shock, and I couldn’t grasp the situation.”

Emma arrived at Ryan’s flat where he was sobbing and she sat with him before going out to buy some tea and sandwiches for him.

When she arrived back at his flat, she called the police.

In the 999 call, Emma indicated that Kim had died from an overdose even though she didn’t know and didn’t check the bedroom to check on Kim.

Emma said that she just assumed Kim had died from an overdose because alcohol and drugs were taken that night.

Ms Kearsley questioned her as to why she took so long to call the emergency services and Emma said: “I did what I thought was right at that time, but I regret not ringing emergency services earlier.

“I didn’t want to call police until I got there to make sure he was ok.”

The inquest continues.