The family of a mother-of-two who died from a drug overdose say she was failed by the addiction service tasked with helping her after she was repeatedly refused residential rehabilitation.

Carly Spencer, of Bracken Close, Borehamwood, had been using hard drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin, for around 15 years by the time she died aged 30.

But despite her addiction, support workers described her as “pleasant” and “easy to be around”.

At an inquest hearing at Hatfield Coroner’s Court on Thursday, April 20, Miss Spencer’s father Michael asked Fiona Weatherall-Morris, of the Spectrum Drug and Alcohol Service, why his daughter was not offered residential treatment despite pleading for it on a number of occasions. 

“She was completely and utterly frustrated with the service - it was not supporting her properly,” said Mr Spencer.

“She was stating on a regular basis that she wanted residential rehab, saying ‘I’m desperate’, and constantly being told ‘you have to meet our criteria’.”

Miss Weatherall-Morris said drug users accessing the service had to demonstrate eight weeks of “stability” by attending regular one-to-one meetings before being considered for residential treatment, and that Miss Spencer was unable to do this.

However she did admit that “more could have been done in terms of the support she was given at the time”.

Paramedics were called to an address in Crown Road in the early hours of June 28 last year to find Miss Spencer lying on the floor in an unresponsive state.

Despite their best efforts to resuscitate her, she was declared dead at Barnet General Hospital shortly afterwards.

In the wake of the death, Spectrum formed a complex needs team to help people with both substance abuse and mental health issues. It was accepted that Miss Spencer would have fallen under this category.

Considering evidence from a post mortem examination, Hertfordshire coroner Geoffrey Sullivan concluded that Miss Spencer’s death was drug related, and that she died of morphine and cocaine toxicity.