A Briton who dropped out of university to fight ISIS in Syria died of a fatal heroin and cocaine overdose after being investigated by police on his return to the UK, an inquest heard.
Former sociology student Joshua Schoolar, 23, had publicly complained of having his home raided and his phone and laptop seized during the three-year probe after volunteering for the International Freedom Battalion (IFB) in Syria.
He had travelled to country in 2017 – first working as a teacher and later taking up arms to fight ISIS in the liberation of Raqqa.
But when he got back home he was subjected to a lengthy DBS check for a job he sought in education and suffered from bouts of depression, an inquest heard.
In June last year, Schoolar, from Ladybarn, Manchester tweeted a picture which said ‘Countries where I’m now considered a terrorist’ with the caption: ‘I’m still under active investigation for travelling to N.Syria in 2017 ahah.’
Two months later, he was found dead in his room having ingested a lethal level of drugs after attending a BBQ with friends.
Josh Schoolar, who dropped out of university to fight ISIS in Syria, died of a fatal heroin and cocaine overdose after being investigated by police on his return to the UK, an inquest heard
Joshua’s parents say he was ‘driven to do the right thing’ from a young age and the 23-year-old (pictured) was interested in politics and sociology which he went on to study at sixth form
This week a conclusion of drug-related death was recorded at an inquest by a coroner who had earlier refused to widen the scope of the inquest to include investigative agencies.
Despite the request from his parents who feared ‘a long-standing investigation’ could have been a ‘causative factor’, the coroner ruled there had been ‘no breach of systemic duty or operational duty’.
The Manchester hearing was told Schoolar originally from the village of Honley near Huddersfield, West Yorks., had studied at Manchester Metropolitan University but gave up his degree to help freedom fighter defeat ISIS.
His mother Sandra said: ‘From a young age, he was always driven to do the right thing for injustices.
‘Josh had an interest in 20th century history and an enthusiasm towards history, politics and sociology which he went on to study at sixth form.
‘His interest in politics grew and he felt deeply about aspects of it and he believed it was meaningless when something wasn’t done.
Joshua tweeted in 2020 that he was still being investigated over his actions in Syria in 2017
‘He dropped out of university to go to Rojava in Syria. We could not persuade him otherwise but we did our best to support him in this risky adventure.’
Close friend Imogen Woods told the inquest: ‘I met Josh four years ago when he introduced me to a political organisation. On September 19 last year, we all went to a BBQ with friends. We had alcohol and he snorted cocaine but not that much.
‘There were six of us there and he seemed pretty sober. We left at 2.45am and got two taxis. We had a chat and he was fully aware of himself. When we got back, he made me a cup of tea and then took himself off to his bedroom.
‘I stayed overnight in the next room and was awoken at one point around 6am by his snoring. At one point I thought he was being sick.
‘Snoring was not unusual for Josh and we would often laugh and joke about it. I woke up at 10am and had a coffee and he was still snoring.
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‘I sent Josh a jokey WhatsApp message saying “are you alive?” and the next day sent a text to friend to see if Josh was okay. I knew from the text back that something awful had happened.’
Pictured: Joshua was a trade union activist who dropped out of university to fight ISIS in Syria
Remembrance: Friends and comrades of Josh Schoolar paying tribute after his death last year
Housemate Andrew Nesbitt said: ‘We had four or five pints and Josh snorted some cocaine. I could hear him snoring when I went to work the next day, I just thought he was sleeping off a bad hangover.
‘It was only when I went into his room when I got back from work later that night that I found him to be unresponsive and I called 999 and started CPR.’
Det Sgt Daniel Woods of Greater Manchester Police told the inquest they found burnt sheets of tin paper in his room which they believed was indicative of smoking heroin or crack cocaine.
He added: ‘When police attended and examined his body, we found no concern for assault or traumatic injuries.
‘There was no third party involvement. The hypothesis we reached was that he could have died as a result of a drug overdose.’
In making his conclusions, coroner Nigel Meadows said: ‘During that night or early the following morning Josh consumed some cocaine and it is reported he had a number of alcoholic drinks.
An inquest heard police found evidence of smoking heroin or crack cocaine in Joshua’s room when he was found dead after a BBQ and ruled there were no suspicious circumstances
‘There was evidence which could indicate he might have used heroin or cocaine when he died – but there was no evidence of him smoking heroin at the party. Cocaine is an illegal drug, so too is heroin and the combination of both drugs seems to have gone to his airways.
‘Unfortunately, there is no such thing as recreational drug use. I accept he may have taken illicit drugs before and not suffered any ill effects but that does not mean he was going to be fine on this occasion. There is clearly a lot more to Joshua then this.’
During his life of political activism Schoolar volunteering for ACORN, a union which represents low-income people.
At a previous hearing, his parents wanted the coroner to widen the scope of the inquest to include investigative agencies amid concerns about how he was treated when he returned home and said it was a ‘causative’ factor in his death.
At a review hearing in August this year Mr Meadows said: ‘Josh was a person of conscience and felt strongly about a number of issues for example social circumstances, injustice to people within the country and he felt strongly about events occurring in other countries, in particular Kurdistan.
‘He went there for a period of time because of his principles and beliefs. When he returned to this country after being away, an investigation began into what happened when he was abroad which took some considerable time.
A coroner ruled Josh’s death was as a result of consuming a combination of cocaine and heroin
‘But there is clear evidence that he had been consuming drugs the day prior to his death and when he was found there was evidence that he was consuming additional drugs.
‘The law will not allow a wider inquest. There was no breach of systemic duty or operational duty. The evidence is that Joshua took cocaine and then consumed heroin and died as a circumstance of that.’
Source: Daily Mail
