Argentina cocaine death Briton 'threatened by gang'

Laura Hill was found dead in a block of flats in Buenos Aires in 2007

A convicted drug dealer has told an inquest how a Sussex woman had been working with a drugs gang in Argentina, but feared for her life after a drugs deal went wrong.

The body of Laura Hill, 25, from Eastbourne, was discovered in Buenos Aires in October 2007.

Her family have campaigned for eight years to prove she had not taken a cocaine overdose, but was killed.

Eastbourne Coroner's Court was told she had been threatened by a gang.

The inquest heard how Jason Bowley, who is serving a prison sentence in the UK for drug dealing, flew to Argentina as part of a drugs gang to try to help bring Ms Hill home.

He told coroner Alan Craze: "She said a drug deal had gone badly wrong.

"There were some angry people, they weren't happy with her. She didn't think she'd make it home."

He said a member of the gang had told her they were "going to kill her".

Ms Hill's body was found by a resident near a lift on the first floor of a six-storey block of flats.

Tests revealed a high level of cocaine in her blood stream.

The coroner has said there appear to be two options - that there was no foul play or potentially Ms Hill had been injected with cocaine against her will.

After Tuesday's hearing, Ms Hill's mother said she knew the inquest would reveal the drugs underworld their daughter had become a part of, but she said she wanted to encourage other families who also needed answers.

Alison Hill, who had visited Bowley in prison to find answers, said: "My message, if they believe that something is wrong, is not to give up."

The inquest was adjourned to a date to be fixed for the coroner's conclusion.