Ramsay chef died after "cocaine-fuelled rampage"

Gordon Ramsay protégé David Dempsey, who died in May after falling from a block of flats in west London, had a mixture of cocaine and alcohol in his body that could have made him psychotic, an inquest heard on Wednesday.

 

Dempsey was head chef at Ramsay’s eponymous restaurant in Chelsea.

 

His death on 4 May followed what witnesses described as a rampage through the block of flats, where he was seen jumping from window-sill to window-sill, smashing windows and breaking into several flats.

 

Dr Nikolas Lemos, head of toxicology at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London, told the inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court that traces of cocaine and alcohol were found in Dempsey’s body.

 

Cocaine levels in his blood at the time of death were 1.36mg per litre. Levels of anything above 0.9mg per litre could kill, said Lemos.

 

Dempsey’s blood alcohol levels were only 36mg per 100ml, less than half the drink-drive limit, but Lemos pointed out that cocaine could have serious effects on a person’s mental and physical abilities when combined with alcohol.

 

He added that the mixture could sometimes cause "cocaine-exited delirium", the symptoms of which can include psychosis, cardiac irregularities, delirium, coma and death.

 

Lemos said: "It would not be surprising that a person with cocaine and a little alcohol in their blood would act a little strangely."

 

Ramsay, who has a zero-tolerance approach to drug use, said that Dempsey knew he was risking his job if caught taking drugs.

 

At a dinner between the two at Harvey Nichols Fifth Floor restaurant the night before his death, Ramsay said that Dempsey looked "slightly agitated".

 

Ramsay had called the meeting after all of his female chefs at the Chelsea restaurant handed in their resignation because they were not happy with Dempsey’s style of management.

 

"He looked to me as if he was under some pressure," said Ramsay, but added that he did not look like he had taken drugs.

 

Ramsay said Dempsey had some financial problems and that the restaurant had lent him £3,000. Dempsey earned more than £50,000 in his job as head chef.

 

His family denied he had any money worries.

 

But they also claimed that he was threatening to leave his job and start his own restaurant in Glasgow unless Ramsay paid him more. Ramsay denied being asked for a pay rise.

 

The inquest was adjourned until 19 August.

 

Dr Peter Wilkins, a pathologist at St George’s Hospital, who conducted the post-mortem on Dempsey, said he had died as a result of multiple injuries.

 

by Samantha McClary