Cocaine Planted On French Businessman In Australia

 

A wealthy French businessman was kidnapped and forced to take cocaine in the years before he was found dead in his Sydney apartment with lethal levels of drugs in his blood, an inquest has heard.

David Monlun, 40, was found lying face down in his apartment near Sydney's Darling Harbour on the morning of May 30, 2011.


An autopsy listed mixed drug toxicity as the direct cause of death, with a lethal range of the drug GHB detected in his blood.

In the opening day of the inquest into his death, Simon Buchen, counsel assisting the coroner, told Glebe Coroner's Court that the French-born Mr Monlun had come to Sydney in 1996 and soon became a successful businessman.

His ventures provided him with the "visible trappings of success, such as expensive cars, frequent travel and a sizeable apartment near the harbour".

"At times he had possession of large amounts of cash," Mr Buchen said.
About 2000 Mr Monlun commenced a "highly sexual", "volatile" and intermittent relationship with Sarah Manning that often involved the regular use of drugs, such as GHB and "ice".

In late 2006, the inquest heard Ms Manning's former partner Matthew Haar kidnapped Mr Monlun and forced him to ingest cocaine.

Two weeks later - this time with the help of Ms Manning and another woman - Mr Haar tied Mr Monlun up at a Randwick property and forced the businessman to sign over property.
Both Mr Haar and Ms Manning were subsequently convicted over the incident.

On the night of Mr Monlun's death the by-then reunited couple had dinner at his home.
CCTV footage shows Ms Manning leaving the apartment at various times before coming back with a friend, Jamie Philp, at about 9.30pm.

Mr Philp had been a long-term user of GHB, the inquest heard.
After saying goodbye to the pair at around 3.20am, Mr Monlun can be seen to "deteriorate", dropping a phone and being unsteady on his feet, Mr Buchen said.

The inquest will look at Mr Monlun's precise cause of death, the source of the drugs he consumed, the conduct of Ms Manning and Mr Philp, as well as the conduct of persons of interest after his death.

The inquest continues before Deputy State Coroner Sharon Freund.

Source: ninemsn news