Couple needed to ‘do one thing new’ to see in New Year but it surely led to tragedy

Francesca Phillips, 34, suffered a cardiac arrest after using cocaine to celebrate the New Year, with an ambulance taking 90 minutes to arrive as she ‘turned blue’, an inquest heard

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A hair salon owner tragically died after taking cocaine for the first time at a New Year’s Eve party. Francesca Phillips, 34, suffered a heart attack after her husband spent £80 on a gram of cocaine as they wanted to “do something new” to celebrate the new year. An ambulance took 90 minutes to respond to her husband’s frantic 999 calls, an inquest heard.

Her husband, Darren, hadn’t touched the Class A drug since his teenage years and Franki had never tried it. The married couple, who had ‘no plans’ to continue taking the drug, discussed their concerns but decided to proceed, with Franki quickly becoming unwell before ‘turning blue’.

An inquest has now determined that the most senior clinician at the time of the incident made decisions that were ‘difficult to justify’ and is now facing a misconduct panel, reports the Mirror.

On 31 December 2022, they had a quiet evening in playing video games and Franki consumed three Disaronno and Pepsis.

They each snorted two small lines of cocaine approximately two hours apart and Franki had ‘a couple of drags’ of her husband’s cannabis. At around 10.30pm, Franki began complaining of backache and started being sick.

The pain travelled up into her shoulders, and shortly after they welcomed in the New Year at midnight, Franki went upstairs and requested aspirin. Mr Phillips dialled 999 shortly after 1am, saying she thought she might be having a heart attack as her chest was tightening. Her condition deteriorated, and Mr Phillips dialled 999 again at 2.10am, by which point she was “turning blue and struggling to breathe.”

He was informed an ambulance would arrive within 18 minutes, with the operator offering apologies for the delay as he begged them to “please hurry up.” By this time, Franki’s sister Laura and her boyfriend Benjamin had reached them.

Benjamin placed two additional 999 calls before an ambulance turned up at 2:34am, with paramedics starting CPR when Franki suffered cardiac arrest. Despite 45 minutes of efforts to revive her heart, she was pronounced dead shortly after 3:30am.

At the inquest conducted on the Isle of Wight, Darren stated he ‘fully’ regretted purchasing the cocaine and delivered a message to others saying ‘Just don’t do it’.

Laura informed the court she felt helpless while waiting for the ambulance and believed the call wasn’t treated as urgent. Benjamin said he observed two paramedics sharing a laugh upon arrival, before their attitude shifted when they realised the gravity of the situation.

Kathryn Taylor, head of quality governance for the ambulance service, explained the incident received a Category 2 response, designated for emergencies such as suspected heart attacks, where the target response time is 18 minutes. An ambulance was called at 2:16am and reached the scene at 2:41am, which she acknowledged exceeded the expected response time. Pathologist Dr Adnan Al‐Badri conducted a post-mortem examination and determined the provisional cause of death as cardiac arrest resulting from a coronary artery spasm triggered by cocaine use.

He stated that cocaine had played a “significant” role in her death. Detective Sergeant Tom Kenney informed the court that police subsequently identified dealer Jack Budden as the individual who provided the cocaine.

Manslaughter charges were dismissed for prosecution, but Budden faced charges for supplying a Class A drug and received a two-year prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He was subsequently imprisoned in 2025 for additional, unrelated drug offences. No measures were taken against Mr Phillips.

DS Kenney explained it was deemed a “joint enterprise” between the couple to consume cocaine and it was not in the public interest to prosecute a husband who would “have to live with what happened for the rest of his life.”

The IW Ambulance Service initiated a Patient Safety Incident Investigation into the conduct of specialist critical care paramedic Fred Thompson, who was the most senior clinician present.

It discovered that the initial crew intended to transport Franki to hospital once all possible treatment had been administered at the property. Mr Thompson chose instead not to move her. The investigation concluded that his decision not to transport her to hospital was ‘difficult to justify’ and an ‘error of judgement’, falling short of the expectations for an experienced paramedic.

Mr Thompson also utilised an ultrasound machine, which he was not authorised to use. Crucially, he was not supposed to use it to determine whether resuscitation should be halted.

Investigators stated that he misread and misunderstood the data from the device. Mr Thompson resigned from the ambulance service in 2023 and referred himself to the professional regulator.

A Health and Care Professions Tribunal is still deliberating whether he should face disciplinary action or be struck off. Mr Thompson, who now works for private healthcare provider Practice Plus Group, maintained that he and the other paramedics believed the live monitor displayed a flat line.

He claimed his actions were ‘done in the best interest without malice’. Mr Phillips accused Mr Thompson of having ‘played God’ by pronouncing his wife dead.

Franki’s sister, Victoria, criticised the paramedic for showing a ‘lack of respect and cowardice’ by being elusive after leaving the service, which had delayed the inquest.

The coroner revealed she had to hire a private investigator to locate him. Franki’s sister Victoria portrayed her as ‘the most beautiful, kind-hearted person I knew’, generous, animal-loving, an avid reader who enjoyed learning about astronomy and someone who “gave great advice.”

Mrs Sumeray stated it was ‘very difficult’ to pinpoint any single factor that led to Franki’s death other than cocaine.

She cautioned that cocaine use is becoming increasingly prevalent among the Island’s younger population and issued a grave warning: “Drugs kill, and we don’t know what we’re taking. I am heartbroken that this family has been torn apart by this. A beautiful young woman died, and for what?”

The inquest continues.