British teacher died after swallowing bag of cocaine at airport before flight to Dubai

Victoria Buchanan, 42, is thought to have realised the drug was still in her possession after checking in at Manchester Airport

A British teacher accidentally killed herself by swallowing a bag of cocaine at Manchester Airport, an inquest has concluded.

Victoria Buchanan, 42, is thought to have ingested the drug after realising it was still her possession after checking in for her flight home to Dubai in March.

The mother-of-three had bought 4g of the drug for £200 during a visit to the UK with her husband Mark.

About a quarter of the drug was left in a re-sealable bag, which she decided to swallow in the hope of getting it home as she sipped a glass of champagne in the airport’s first-class lounge.

Moments later she collapsed and went into cardiac arrest after the bag burst in her stomach, Manchester Coroner’s Court heard.

Onlookers initially believed Buchanan had gone into anaphylactic shock and administered an epipen she had in her handbag for a palm oil allergy. She was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital, where she died of brain damage.

The bag of cocaine was discovered during a post-mortem examination.

Assistant coroner Andrew Bridge recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure.

Buchanan, originally from Kilmarnock, Scotland, moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2010. As well as working as a teacher, she helped children in poverty in Nepal through an educational charity.

Before her death on 30 March, she had spent a week with her family during an annual visit to Britain.

A toxicology report following Buchanan’s death showed less than 0.4mg per litre of blood, consistent with recreational use. But the cocaine metabolic benzoylecgonine was found at much higher reading consistent with excessive use.

The report added: “The obvious conclusion is that she ingested the bag and then collapsed from the level of cocaine which leaked into the stomach the bag was large 10x6cm. There is no other explanation as to how it got into the stomach, there is no evidence that she suffered from an allergic reaction.”

Her husband, who runs a shipping company, told the inquest: ‘’We were aware she would take small amounts of cocaine occasionally and it was something we did together.

“I had left the UK a few days before [and] not a lot was left.”

Mr Buchanan said his wife “would have refused” if someone had asked her to smuggle the cocaine back to Dubai.

He added: “She wasn’t in a position to be blackmailed, I can say that 100 per cent. I definitely didn’t ask her to bring it back.”

Detective sergeant Alex Wild, of Greater Manchester Police, said officers had studied footage of Buchanan on airport CCTV and “there was no suggestion she was approached”.

A criminal investigation led to no charges or further action.

Buchanan parents had “no suspicion of any drug taking”, her father James Dignon said.

Her mother Irene Dignon added: “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.”

Mr Bridge said: “The only known source of that cocaine was from that contents within the bag swallowed by Victoria with the intention of taking the remaining cocaine back to Dubai. Why she took such a risk will never be known but I’m satisfied it was done of her own volition and there was no coercion or threat, there was no criminal activity and no charges have been brought.

“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.

“My question is what on earth was she thinking?”