A FORMER care home worker has told an inquest how she tried to resuscitate her dying boyfriend who had swallowed condoms stuffed with cocaine. Marianne Telfer had travelled to the Dominican Republic with her partner, Richard Flack, for a holiday.

A FORMER care home worker has told an inquest how she tried to resuscitate her dying boyfriend who had swallowed condoms stuffed with cocaine.

Marianne Telfer had travelled to the Dominican Republic with her partner, Richard Flack, for a holiday.

But on the last day of their break, in February 2004, 34-year-old Mr Flack swallowed condoms stuffed with cocaine.

Mr Flack, of Grange Farm Park in Colchester, suffered a number of seizures before he died on the floor of the couple's hotel room.

It was not revealed how much cocaine Mr Flack, a landscape gardener, had swallowed.

His death was the start of a four-month nightmare for Miss Telfer who was jailed by the authorities in the Dominican Republic on suspicion of drugs trafficking.

Miss Telfer was eventually set free and returned home to Ardleigh, near Colchester, in June that year after constant pressure from her family and campaigning from the group Fair Trials Abroad.

During a brief hearing at Chelmsford Coroner's Court yesterday, she described their final moments together on February 16.

She said she heard Mr Flack having a seizure on the floor and called a doctor and her partner recovered. But later the same day he starting fitting again.

“I gave him mouth to mouth and heart massage but the doctor came back and he had died,” she said.

Miss Telfer has always denied knowing anything about Mr Flack's plan to return to the UK with the Class A drugs.

Post mortems carried out in the Dominican Republic and subsequently in the UK showed the cause of death to be cocaine overdose.

A toxicology report also revealed Mr Flack, a recovering heroin addict, had been taking morphine for two years prior to his death.

Mr Flack's mother, Jacqueline, told the inquest she thought her son had been going to Spain on holiday and it was only when she had a call from Miss Telfer after Mr Flack's death that she realised he had been in the Dominican Republic.

Essex coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Miss Telfer declined to comment after the inquest.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Flack's sister, Tracey, said: “He was lovely, a nice bloke and everyone who knew him knew that.”

She said her family had not been in contact with Miss Telfer since Mr Flack's death.