Popular Southsea bar manager collapsed and died as she was serving customer drinks, inquest hears

‘Lovely’ and ‘jokey’ Teresa Cartwright, who ran the Eastfield Hotel’s bar in Prince Albert Road, suddenly fell backwards on Saturday November 27, 2021, around 3.40pm having appeared her ‘normal busy self’. On Thursday, January 26 an inquest was held into her death.

Portsmouth Coroner’s Court heard the mum-of-three was diagnosed with heart failure eight years earlier and was told she was only expected to live for another four years. But the court heard the 49-year-old was playing ‘Russian roulette’ and was a ‘ticking time bomb’ due to her regular use of non-prescribed drugs including amphetamine and painkiller dihydrocodeine.

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Jane Cartwright, the landlady of the pub who is no relation to Teresa, said her bar manager was ‘always jokey and good at her job’ with there ‘nothing untoward’ about her when she left the pub shortly before the incident. ‘It was a total shock she passed away,’ she said after being told what happened.

Regular punter Joseph Lockheart said Teresa was at the ‘end of the bar leaning over as she always does’ when she said she would put a bet on as ‘there is nothing better to do on a Saturday’. Then as she was preparing to pour two pints of Strongbow cider she fell backwards.

The customer said: ‘She collapsed back onto the fridge. I ran round to stop her hitting her head and shouted for help. I took my coat off to keep her warm. She was foaming at the mouth and gasping. I was screaming to get an ambulance.’

Mr Lockheart said he was ‘scared’ as it ‘looked like she was dying’. Another customer started chest compressions before paramedics arrived on the scene in minutes. An air ambulance also attended with Teresa given adrenaline and 13 defibrillator shocks during 50 minutes of emergency treatment before she was pronounced dead in the ambulance at 4.45pm.

The court was told how Teresa was diagnosed with heart failure after being admitted to Queen Alexandra Hospital with shortness of breath and chest pains in December 2013. ‘It was quite a significant condition of heart failure,’ coroner Christopher Wilkinson said with the left side of her heart only able to pump half the amount of blood through it.

The inquest heard how due to her ‘busy and stressful life’ Teresa turned to a mixture of amphetamines, painkillers and sleeping pills. Pathologist Brett Lockyer said tests revealed toxicity of amphetamines and painkiller dihydrocodeine, and a therapeutic level of diphenhydramine, used for sleeping.

Mr Wilkinson added: ‘Amphetamine is a stimulant drug that makes your heart work harder. It is Russian roulette (using it) like cocaine. You can take it for a long time and then one day it causes a cardiac arrhythmia. It’s a very significant risk.’

He concluded it was a ‘ticking time bomb’ and said Teresa’s death was an accidental death rather than one of natural causes due to a ‘mixed drug intoxication’ against a ‘background of a weak heart’ leading to her heart stopping.