Teacher, 42, collapsed and died after swallowing a bag of cocaine

A British teacher collapsed and died after swallowing a bag containing cocaine in a First Class lounge while waiting to fly home from Manchester to Dubai. 

Mother-of-three Victoria Buchanan, 42, was drinking a glass of champagne after checking in her luggage when she realised she still had the bag containing £60 worth of cocaine on her. 

Mrs Buchanan had earlier bought £300 worth of the Class A drug during a family visit to the UK with her husband Mark, a shipping company boss.

She had £60 worth of cocaine left when she decided to swallow it in the hope of getting it back to Dubai – and moments later she collapsed with a severe seizure when the bag split in her stomach, an inquest heard.

 Onlookers at Manchester Airport initially believed Mrs Buchanan was having an anaphylactic shock and administered an EpiPen she had in her handbag for a palm oil allergy but died later at Wythenshawe Hospital.

The bag of cocaine was discovered during a post-mortem. Her elderly parents knew nothing of her drug taking.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, Assistant Coroner Andrew Bridge said: ‘I have no understanding of why Victoria would wish to have smuggled cocaine or why she would take the risks of doing so my conclusion of how she came by her death is one of misadventure.

‘I give you my sympathies for the sad loss of your wife and your daughter – my question is what on earth was she thinking?’ 

Mrs Buchanan, originally from Kilmarnock, Scotland, had moved to Dubai in 2010 and worked as a teacher in the United Arab Emirates. She was known for helping impoverished children in Nepal through a charity set up to improve their education.

An inquest heard the tragedy occurred on March 29 last year. Mrs Buchanan had spent a week in Britain with her family as part of her annual visit to the UK.

Her husband told the Manchester hearing the bag of cocaine had cost £300 when he and Mrs Buchanan bought it and there was £50 or £60 worth of the drug left in it. 

‘We were aware she would take small amounts of cocaine occasionally and it was something we did together,’ he said. 

‘If somebody had asked her to smuggle the cocaine she would have refused she wasn’t in a position to be blackmailed – I can say that 100 per cent. It wasn’t the intention and I definitely didn’t ask her to bring it back.’

Mrs Buchanan was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital in an ambulance at 2.34pm following a cardiac arrest at Manchester Airport. 

Dr Jon Hopper, from the hospital, said:  ‘She had been seen taking an EpiPen and it was confirmed by the ambulance and response team that basic life support had commenced on the scene.

‘The cardiac arrest lasted for one hour she remained unconscious at the hospital with no response to stimulus… she reached a critical condition and her family were informed that this was a tragic and irretrievable situation.

‘She died at 6.24pm on March 30. During her post-mortem a plastic resealable bag was found in her stomach and it was ruled that further examination was required.’

A toxicology report read to the inquest showed amounts of cocaine at less than 0.4 milligram per litre of blood, which is ‘consistent with recreational use’. 

But the levels of cocaine metabolic benzoylecgonine were at ‘excessive’ levels. 

Mrs Buchanan’s mother Irene Dignon, who in her 70s, said: ‘We couldn’t understand why she would risk something for such a small amount – we couldn’t understand that. 

‘There was no evidence of anything like drugs with her – she was always so anti them. 

‘She was always so upbeat I wouldn’t have thought she needed them, it’s a different world.’ 

Mrs Buchanan’s father James added: ‘We had no suspicion of any drug taking.’ 

Greater Manchester Police concluded there was no third party involvement and no further action would be taken.