Woman high on MDMA killed herself and friend in crash after Halloween party

A woman was high on ecstasy when she killed herself and her friend by crashing into a tree at 47mph near Norwich, an inquest has heard.

Sara Pancas, 38, was fourteen times over the legal MDMA limit while driving back from a Halloween party on November 3, 2024.

Her housemate Sara Ribeiro, 29, who was sitting in the back seat, died at the scene. Pancas died from traumatic brain injuries two days later.

Fellow passengers Anna Dias and Vladmira Silva survived but suffered serious injuries. Silva spent over a month in the hospital recovering.

On Monday, Norfolk Coroner’s Court heard how Ribeiro and Pancas, who were both Portuguese, had spent the night partying at Kudos nightclub in Norwich, Norfolk.

With Pancas driving the Mini and Ribeiro in the back seat, they set off for their shared flat in Thetford – a thirty-mile drive.

Shortly after 5am, Pancas, who had been nervous about driving, struck a kerb and lost control of her car on the A11, the inquest heard.

The car hit a tree at the Thickthorn Roundabout, just a few miles away from the city centre.

Toxicological tests found 140 micrograms of MDMA per litre of blood in Pancas’ system, fourteen times the legal limit. Cannabis was also present.

MDMA, or ecstasy, is an illegal Class A drug, but has a legal driving limit of ten micrograms per litre of blood.

Ms Dias, a front seat passenger who was airlifted to hospital, had no memory of the crash.

Speaking to the court, she said: ‘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 Mr Silva, who was not wearing a seat belt, sustained facial fractures and a disjointed hip in the crash.

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, said MDMA was the most ‘plausible explanation’ for the collision.

Yvonne Blake, area coroner for Norfolk, gave a joint conclusion of road traffic collision and drug-related death for Pancas.

She concluded Ribeiro’s medical cause of death was transection of the descending aorta, the tearing of the aorta, the main blood vessel that ferries blood from the heart throughout the chest and the rest of the body.

Ribeiro had died from a road traffic collision, she added.

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