Four charged over death of Lancashire man who swallowed cocaine

Four people have been charged in connection with the death of a 20-year-old man from Lancashire who died in Dubai after swallowing packages of cocaine before a flight from Manchester, police said. Jensen Westhead, of Thornton Cleveleys, ingested multiple drug packets at a hotel in Manchester on December 2, 2024, boarded a flight from Manchester Airport and arrived in Dubai on December 3. He was found dead at the Hotel Avalon in Dubai on December 4 after at least one of the packages ruptured in his stomach and he suffered a fatal overdose, Lancashire Police said.

Lancashire Police said the charges followed a complex investigation into the circumstances surrounding Westhead's travel and death. In a statement, the force said, "Four people have been charged with drug offences following the death of a man in Dubai." The four charged are Rebecca Hatch, 43, and Glenn Hatch, 50, both of Hatfield Close, Thornton Cleveleys; Alexander Tofton, 32, of Tewkesbury Drive, Lytham St Annes; and Steven Stephenson, 36, of St Lawrence, Denton, Manchester.

All four have been charged with conspiracy to fraudulently evade the prohibition on exportation of a class A drug for the period from November 21...