Socialite Daisy Boyd died after cocaine and razor blade smuggled into psychiatric hospital, inquest hears

A socialite had cocaine smuggled into her room in a private psychiatric hospital before she was found dead by nurses, a pre-inquest review has heard.

Daisy Boyd, a 28-year-old sculptor, was found dead in the Nightingale Hospital, in Marylebone, central London, just months after her relationship with Dan Macmillan, the 42-year-old publishing heir, ended.

Before her death, cocaine and a razor blade were found in her room at the hospital, the pre-inquest review was told on Wednesday.

The hearing was told that one guest was only signed in as "AR" and Ms Boyd's family are to raise concerns with the clinic over security.

The hearing at Westminster Coroners' Court was also told about concerns over whether CPR was performed "incorrectly" after Ms Boyd was found.

She might also have been battling an eating disorder prior to her death at the £696-a-night clinic, the hearing was told.

Daisy checked into the hospital as an "informal patient", the court heard, meaning she was not sectioned under the Mental Health Act, after Mr Macmillan called off their engagement in July last year.

She was found dead in the early hours of October 5, but a cause of death was not revealed at the hearing.

Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said: "There was drug paraphernalia found in her room at some previous point."

Her father Tim Boyd told the hearing a "razor blade" had also been found. Mr Boyd said: "She was certainly showing other patients that she had cocaine."

He raised fears about how Daisy had got cocaine into the hospital after it was revealed she had a visitor who signed in with the initials "AR" instead of their full name.

Dr Radcliffe said: "We don't know where she got the cocaine from, but it seems it would be helpful if there was anything about reception having a full name and why there was 'AR' rather than a full name."

Mr Boyd added: "This is an important point for us because certainly when I took her out to go to Marks & Spencer or wherever, I would bring back bags and we would have them checked by the nurses.

"I would tell the nurses where I was going because that was what the policy was."

He added: "The fact that anybody can wander in and out when we have got a patient who is supposedly being cared for, is obviously using drugs, is a major issue. It's a major security issue with the hospital, it's one we will be going into further."

Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe

Mr Boyd had previously given a note of the family's concerns over his daughter's death to the coroner. He was joined in court by Ms Boyd's mother, Lucy, her stepfather, Charles Pullan, and stepmother, Sadie Jones.

Dr Radcliffe said: "I think it would be safe to say the concerns from this are predominantly about the management and assessment of Daisy's psychiatric condition, the placement of her, where she was in Nightingale.

"You raised concerns about her ability to have access to visitors and the reception checking the visiting and who might have been able to get in to see Miss Boyd.

"You also seem frustrated by the fact that if she had an eating disorder, which is being suggested, why was she not in the eating disorder unit?

"You are clearly frustrated about what appears to be the differences in what we have been told about what happened on the morning her body was discovered."

Mr Boyd added: "One of the other points we have picked up since we have had the disclosures was that the CPR was being delivered incorrectly."

The full inquest, which is scheduled to take place in September, will hear statements from paramedics, police and other medical experts.

Staff from the Nightingale, including nurses who cared for Daisy, are expected to be among witnesses to give evidence.

The coroner scheduled a two-day inquest for September 19 and 20.

A second pre-inquest review was set for July 6.