Isaac’s mum, Faith Mansfield, described him as a “pure soul” who is “loved and missed by everyone who had the pleasure to know him”.
His death was attributed to natural causes until a GP spotted metabolites of cocaine in a urine sample.
By the time Met Police and coroner’s court investigations had begun, Isaac’s body had already been cremated – the police investigation failed to find evidence strong enough to criminally convict anybody.
On Monday, September 1, senior coroner Graeme Irvine resumed Isaac’s inquest where he previously said he faced the “invidious position” of carrying out “what is ostensibly a surrogate criminal investigation” into who exposed him to the cocaine.
The inquest will hear from all who had unsupervised access to Isaac in the 36 hours before his death, including his dad Jordan Montlake, carers and school staff.
Isaac had an undiagnosed metabolic condition which impacted his cognitive function and motor skills.
Whilst he was non-verbal his mum said Isaac had fantastic ways of communicating and “would always babble along to his favourite songs and stories”.
‘Cocaine a cause of death’
Paediatric pathologist Dr Andreas Marnerides explained that Isaac’s immediate cause of death was renal (kidney) failure due to rhabdomyolysis – a condition caused by the rapid breakdown of muscle.
Dr Marnerides said that both cocaine ingestion and Isaac’s metabolic condition can be causative factors of rhabdomyolysis.
The urine sample, taken on September 8, was backed up by a blood sample taken when Isaac was admitted to hospital, the court heard, and as such Dr Marnerides said he could not ignore that cocaine may have led to his death.
As Isaac was cremated prior to the cocaine discovery, no post-mortem was ever carried out so significant evidence was missing which could have assisted pathologists in identifying which of the two had caused Isaac’s death.
When pushed for an answer on the likely cause of death, Dr Marnerides answered 1a) renal failure, 1b) rhabdomyolysis, 1c) metabolic disease and cocaine ingestion.
Jordan Mortlake’s dad, speaking on behalf of his son, attempted to question Dr Marnerides on the link between cocaine ingestion and rhabdomyolysis.
Coroner Mr Irvine decided Dr Marnerides should not answer the question as it was “incredibly speculative”.
Mr Montlake Snr accused the coroner of “shutting them up” at which point Mr Irvine warned him to consider his tone and remember where he is.
Dr Marnerides later clarified that cocaine ingestion is an accepted cause of rhabdomyolysis and were it not for Isaac’s undiagnosed condition he would have given cocaine as the sole causative factor.
Isaac and his mum, Faith (Image: Supplied)
‘Dad didn’t want school to call 999’
The day before he fell ill, school staff said Isaac was “smiley” and happy to be back following the summer break.
The next day Isaac was upset and crying early in the school day, the court heard, and his condition then deteriorated throughout the day.
School nurse Funmilola Jackson said the decision was made to call an ambulance as he was semi-conscious, having a lot of dystonia movements and had a temperature over 40C.
When Ms Jackson informed Isaac’s dad, the court heard Mr Montlake asked them not to phone an ambulance.
“He said he didn’t want Isaac to be taken to hospital because his condition would get worse because of unfamiliar faces at the hospital,” Ms Jackson said.
Instead, the court heard that Mr Montlake said he would arrange for domiciliary carers to come to the school by taxi and take Isaac to his air-conditioned home where he could cool and calm down.
Ms Jackson nonetheless decided to phone 999 at 2.55pm and London Ambulance Service (LAS) paramedics arrived at the school at 4.08pm.
Paramedic Laura Barry said they found Isaac appearing “very poorly” – Isaac was pale, blue around the mouth, breathing heavily and barely conscious.
Ms Barry spoke to Isaac’s dad on the phone and said he did not seem surprised by his condition as Isaac often gets “hot and bothered”.
She said: “I suggested we take Isaac to hospital to be seen by doctors. Mr Montlake was very opposed to this and believed going to hospital would make his son worse.
“I believe he stated Isaac had gone to hospital previously and had come out in a worse state to when he went in.”
Mr Irvine asked: “Did you have any concerns about Mr Montlake’s wish that he didn’t go to hospital?”
Ms Barry said: “It did raise some safeguarding concerns, yes. I’ve not seen it by another parent in my experience but I do understand that there are differences when a child has long term healthcare needs.”
Ms Barry’s colleague, Lucy Parsons, had a second call with Mr Montlake where he again expressed his wish that Isaac not be taken to hospital.
Ms Parsons, also asked whether this raised safeguarding concerns, said: “The main concern was he didn’t want Isaac to go to hospital but I did appreciate Isaac was a very poorly boy and this may not be a completely new presentation.
“Isaac had multiple hospital conveyances in the past and historically he may have become very poorly from them.”
It was decided that despite Mr Montlake’s wishes, Isaac would be taken to Newham hospital.
Coroner Mr Irvine told the paramedics: “I have absolutely no concerns about the decision. At the time Isaac was critically unwell and needed to go to the nearest A&E department.”
Isaac was later transferred to St Mary’s paediatric intensive care unit where he died on September 10.
School nurse Ms Jackson and Isaac’s carer at the school, Philomena Adu-Boahen, were both asked if they have an explanation as to how he came into contact with cocaine – both said they have no idea.
On Tuesday, September 2, the inquest will continue with Isaac’s dad set to give evidence.
Faith, who described her son as a “pure soul”, said: “He was so easy to love. His smiles always lifted those around him and his long eyelashes stunned and caused jealousy in all.
“He suffered tremendously in his life but managed to bounce back with giggles and grins. He is loved and missed by everyone who had the pleasure to know him.”
