Driver high on ecstasy killed herself and a friend after Mini hit tree, inquest hears

A woman who crashed her Mini into a tree on the A11 after leaving a Halloween nightclub in Norwich was found to have been high on ecstasy and later died of her injuries, an inquest at Norfolk Coroner’s Court heard.

Sara Pancas, 38, died of traumatic brain injuries two days after the collision on November 3. Back-seat passenger Sara Ribeiro, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene. Toxicology tests on Ms. Pancas showed the equivalent of about 140 micrograms of MDMA per litre of blood — roughly 14 times the legal driving limit of 10 micrograms per litre — and also detected cannabis.

Norfolk Police forensic investigator Sophia Richards told the inquest the most likely cause of the collision was impairment from drugs. Investigators estimated Ms. Pancas was travelling at about 47 mph on the 70 mph A11 shortly after rounding the Thickthorn roundabout when the car hit a kerb and struck a tree at Ketteringham, south of Norwich, just after 5 a.m.

All four occupants had to be helped from the vehicle. Ms. Ribeiro, who lived with Ms. Pancas in a flat in Thetford and was born in Portugal, died at the scene; the medical cause of death was recorded as transection of the descending aorta. Ms. Pancas was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge and died on November 5.

Two other passengers were injured. A back-seat passenger, Vladmira Silva, spent more than a month in hospital with facial fractures and a dislocated hip; officers reported that passenger had not been wearing a seatbelt. Front-seat passenger Anna Dias, who told investigators she had recently sold the Mini to Ms. Pancas, was airlifted to hospital and later said she had no memory of the crash. In a statement read at the inquest, Ms. Dias said Ms. Pancas "did not want to drive that evening, because she was feeling nervous about driving on the left."

Ms. Richards said the evidence indicated both Ms. Pancas and Ms. Ribeiro had taken quantities of MDMA and that the level in the driver’s blood made drug impairment a plausible explanation for loss of control.

Area coroner Yvonne Blake recorded a conclusion that Ms. Pancas died as a result of a road traffic collision and drug-related death. Ms. Ribeiro’s death was recorded as resulting from a road traffic collision. At the inquest, Ms. Ribeiro’s mother paid tribute, saying her daughter "was my best friend and she will be missed forever. She was a loving, caring person who had so much to live for." A friend posted an online tribute to both women.

The crash occurred as the occupants were returning from a Halloween party at the Kudos nightclub in Norwich. The inquest presented the timeline and forensic findings to establish cause and contributing factors to the fatal collision.