A DRIVER who was high on ecstasy killed herself and her pal after crashing her car on the way home from a Halloween party, an inquest has heard.
Sara Pancas, 38, crashed her new Mini into a tree on the A11 just outside of Norwich, Norfolk, on November 3, 2024, killing herself and her housemate, and injuring two other passengers.
SWNSSara Pancas had 140 micrograms of MDMA per litre of blood in her system when she crashed her new Mini[/caption]
The Portuguese national, who was nervous about driving on the left-hand side of the road, was 14 times the legal limit for MDMA when she crashed into a tree at 47 mph.
Her housemate, Sara Ribeiro, 29, who was sitting in the back seat, died at the scene, while Ms Pancas died from her injuries two days later.
On September 15, Norfolk Coroner’s Court heard that the Portuguese pair, who shared a flat in Thetford, Norfolk, had attended a Halloween party at the Kudos nightclub in Norwich, about a 30 mile drive away.
Driving home just after 5am, Ms Pancas struck the kerb and lost control of her car, before crashing into a tree at the Thickthorn Roundabout, just a few miles from the city centre.
Toxicological tests found 140 micrograms of MDMA per litre of blood in Ms Pancas’ system, 14 times the legal limit for the recreational drug.
MDMA, or ecstasy, is an illegal Class A drug and the legal driving limit for it is set at 10 micrograms per litre of blood.
Tests also found the driver had cannabis in her system.
Anna Dias, the front-seat passenger, has no memory of the crash but was airlifted to hospital afterwards.
Ms Dias, who had recently sold the car to her friend, said in a statement read to the court: “Sara did not want to drive that evening, because she was feeling nervous about driving on the left.
“She was anxious about what other people would think about her driving because she was not used to driving in this country and had only recently bought the car.”
Back seat passenger Vladmira Silva, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered facial fractures and a disjointed hip in the crash.
He spent more than a month in hospital recovering.
Mr Silva said: “I did not notice anything wrong with her driving, she was a good driver, never used her mobile phone at the wheel and did not speed.
“I was sure that she was fit to drive.”
Norfolk Constabulary’s Sophia Richards, who carried out a forensic crash investigation for the force, said ecstasy was the most likely cause of the collision.
She said: “The evidence shows both Sara Pancas and Sara Ribeiro had taken quantities of ecstasy.
“Sara Pancas was more than 10 times the legal limit, so the most plausible explanation for the crash was the impairment as a consequence of the drugs in her system.”
The wreckage was discovered by officers in a passing police car.
They found Ms Pancas in the driving seat and Ms Ribeiro unresponsive in the back nearside seat.
All four had to be pulled from the wreckage, with Ms Ribeiro pronounced dead at the scene.
Ms Pancas was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire, but died of traumatic brain injuries on November 5, 2024.
Yvonne Blake, area coroner for Norfolk, gave a joint conclusion of road traffic collision and drug-related death for Ms Pancas.
She concluded Ms Ribeiro, whose medical cause of death was transection of the descending aorta, had died as a result of a road traffic collision.
SWNSSara Ribeiro, who was sitting in the back seat, died at the scene[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
