A British tourist being treated after a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos has died, according to UK officials.

Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, fell ill after reportedly drinking “free shots” from a local bar in Vang Vieng – a resort popular with backpackers.

Four people had already died following the suspected poisonings – an Australian named Bianca Jones, 19, from Melbourne, as well as two Danish women in their 20s and a 56-year-old US citizen.

They are believed to have consumed drinks tainted with methanol, which is sometimes added to mixed drinks as a cheaper alternative to alcohol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.

“We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Laos, and we are in contact with the local authorities,” the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement.

The FCDO said it was also providing consular assistance to other British nationals hospitalised in the incident, as well as their families.

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Ms White was an associate lawyer specialising in intellectual property and technology and worked at the London office of the American law firm Squire Patton Boggs.

Her work involved general commercial matters, and contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law issues, according to the firm’s website.

Bethany Clarke, a friend of Ms White and a healthcare worker, also from Orpington, said a group of six people had been taken to hospital after drinking from the same bar.

She posted on a Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers after the group fell ill.

“Urgent – please avoid all local spirits. Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars,” she wrote.

“Just avoid them as so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”

‘Every parent’s very worst fear’

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed to his country’s parliament that 19-year-old Bianca Jones had died after being evacuated to a Thai hospital from Vang Vieng.

Thai authorities confirmed that Jones had died of “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system”.

Her friend Holly Bowles, also 19, remains in hospital in neighbouring Thailand, Mr Albanese said.

Australian officials said “several foreign nationals” had also been victims of methanol poisoning

“This is every parent’s very worst fear and a nightmare that no one should have to endure,” Mr Albanese said.

“We also take this moment to say that we’re thinking of Bianca’s friend Holly Bowles who is fighting for her life.”

‘Her incredible spirit touched so many lives’

In a statement to the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper, Ms Jones’ family paid tribute to her.

“She was surrounded by love, and we are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us,” the family wrote.

“We want to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support, love, and prayers we’ve received from across Australia.”

The US State Department confirmed that an American had also died in Vang Vieng, and Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had also died in “the incident in Laos”.

Neither would comment directly on a link to methanol poisoning.

A man has been found guilty of murdering his “best friend” on Christmas Eve.

A jury of 10 men and two women heard Dylan Thomas, 24, killed William Bush, 23, in a “frenzied attack” in the Llandaff area of Cardiff last year.

Thomas had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility but denied Mr Bush’s murder.

A trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard Thomas attacked Mr Bush “from behind” in his bedroom after he entered through the kitchen at the property they shared, owned by the defendant’s grandparents.

During the “sustained attack” Mr Bush “fled for his life” down two flights of stairs and onto the patio, the trial heard.

Mr Bush sustained 37 stab wounds in total, including 21 to the neck.

His cause of death was given as “multiple stab wounds to the neck and trunk”.

The defendant, who was wearing a blue t-shirt, attended the hearing via video link from a secure hospital.

The jury returned a unanimous verdict on Thursday afternoon after just over three hours of deliberation.

Thomas, who was suffering from schizophrenia, had initially claimed he was acting in self-defence.

‘Clear thinking’

The court heard how Mr Bush was Thomas’s “only known real friend”.

During the trial, it was also heard how Thomas had been arrested “for trying to climb into Buckingham Palace” some weeks previously.

He also wrote to Elon Musk telling him he believed he had the ability to harness gravity.

The defendant was staying with his grandmother in Rhoose, the Vale of Glamorgan, on the night before the attack.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the jury heard Thomas had carried out an online search for the “anatomy of the neck”.

Thomas, who could not drive, enquired about getting an Uber to Tŷ Matthew in Llandaff at 3.31am.

Later that morning, his grandmother agreed to take him to the house after he told her he “wanted to walk the dog” and they left her home in Rhoose at 10.41am.

He had sent several messages to Mr Bush in the hours before the attack in which he said he needed to see him before Mr Bush went home to Brecon to spend Christmas with his family.

The prosecution argued there was “clear thinking on the part of Dylan Thomas”.

“This was a frenzied attack where Mr Thomas could only have had one intention and that was to kill Mr Bush,” said Gregory Bull KC, prosecuting.

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But the defence argued Mr Bush’s schizophrenia lay “at the centre” of the case.

“He didn’t understand, because he was deluded. He believed, for whatever reason, that his best friend was threatening his life,” said defence barrister Orlando Pownall KC.

Thomas will be sentenced on Monday 16 December.

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She seemed perfect, at first. Her CV brimmed with all kinds of qualifications. And she had years of experience caring for vulnerable people.  

As Sarah Whitaker sat at her kitchen table and looked through the paperwork the care agency had sent her, she knew that Tracy was the one she could trust to look after David, her 89-year-old dad.

Retired businessman David Seal suffered a stroke in the summer and needed more and more support at home.

He was taking a daily cocktail of strong prescription medicines and also needed help emptying his catheter bag because going to the toilet had become difficult recently.

“We need somebody experienced in stroke management and catheter care,” said Sarah. “But we also needed somebody who could drive my dad to the town and back. And somebody who was a very good cook.

“My dad chose Tracy and she arrived the next day.”

Tracy came by train and, on the journey to David’s home, revealed that she could not drive because there was a problem with her licence.

Sarah saw this as a red flag. But that wasn’t all she was worried about.

“We had to teach her how to open and close the catheter because she had never seen one before. And that was a surprise given her experience.”

It got worse. Tracy couldn’t cook and once served David deep-fried Brussels sprouts for lunch. Sarah was increasingly concerned about the carer’s medicine management skills too.

“She was giving dad pills here there and everywhere. And that’s a problem because if you give my dad a pill, he’ll swallow it. Whatever it is.”

This was far removed from the carer she had read so much about.

Sarah was introduced to Tracy through an introductory care agency, Hampshire-based Access Care. When Sarah got in touch about her concerns, the agency said they were confused too.

They had never had any complaints about Tracy. She was the model carer.

And then one sunny day in early September, as David was being pushed around the village in his wheelchair by his grandchildren, one of them pulled out a mobile phone to capture the happy scene.

“As soon as Tracy saw the camera she stepped out of view as quick as a flash,” said Sarah. “And later my daughter said that it seemed odd that she didn’t want to be on camera.”

Sarah rang the care agency again, who supplied her with a copy of Tracy’s driving licence. She looked at the video again.

“The image we had from the walk and the person in the driving licence photo were two different people.”

The next morning, Tracy – or whoever she was – packed her bags and left.

Sarah was horrified. She was left wondering who had been in her father’s house for nearly three weeks. It started to fit into place; the shoddy catheter care, the bad cooking and the poor handling of medicines.

She contacted the care agency again, who promptly contacted Tracy, who was adamant that she had been in the house caring for David.

Access Care contacted Hampshire Police. But the response was not what they expected.

A police constable replied on 4 November with disappointing news. They explained that officers had “limited lines of enquiry” and that because Tracy had denied the allegation, they would need an “independent witness” to confirm the allegation.

They seemed to be saying that they would not investigate, adding that it would be deemed “not in the public interest” to send a police officer to interview Tracy in person at her home, despite having her address.

The police were clearly not interested and showed no signs of investigating. So as part of our investigation into this story, we tracked down Tracy to an address and decided to pay her a visit. To get her side of the story.

I arrived at a large housing estate and saw Tracy backing her car into the drive at the back. I approached her and said I wanted to speak to her about her work as a carer in David’s home.

At first, she said that she had worked very hard to provide the best care but that the family were not happy. She was very clear that she had lived in the home for nearly three weeks. No question about it.

But when I confronted Tracy with the photo evidence from the sunny village walk, her tone changed. She took in deep breath and sighed.

“I don’t know how to explain this,” she said slowly. “It’s so bad. Very bad. I’m sorry.”

Tracy explained to me that she had asked a friend to do the care job in her place, admitting that her friend was not a trained carer. She said nobody had forced her to do it and she had never done anything like this in the past.

She said she thought she could get away with it because the care agency never checked up on her.

“They [the agency] never met me face to face. They have to do more checks to know who is going in the house.”

I show Sarah the video of Tracy and her astonishing admission. “She was knowingly complicit and sent an untrained carer – a complete stranger – into the house of a vulnerable elderly man who is very ill. The nerve of the woman!”

Sarah did some research and reached out to the care regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC). But to her surprise, they said they could not help.

They don’t regulate introductory care agencies like the one Sarah used to hire Tracy.

“I thought it was absolutely incredible that the CQC were not involved and I was very surprised to discover that agencies like this send carers all over the the place but aren’t regulated in any way.”

One of the reasons why the deception was picked up on so quickly is that Sarah lives next door to her dad. And so, we got around to talk to David and I asked him how he felt about having a stranger looking after him.

“I feel very cross about it. I feel fooled and misled,” he said. But David is also clear about another point: regulation. Or lack of it.

“There’s no point in being responsible for the care industry if you’re only dealing with people who are registered with you. It is quite pointless.”

A spokesperson for the Care Quality Commission told Sky News: “We appreciate the distress this incident has caused both Mr Seal and Mrs Whitaker, however as neither introductory agencies or self-employed carers are covered by CQC’s remit we are unable to take action in this case.

“These matters should be reported in the first instance to the local authority safeguarding team who have the remit to investigate the issue and take necessary action.

“Any questions regarding the legal framework for how health and social care is regulated in England is a matter for the government.”

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The care sector is big business. Home care services are worth over £12bn per year and rising, according to healthcare analysts LaingBuisson.

The government has written to Chief Executives of adult social care services telling them of their so-called ‘home first’ approach to healthcare, which supports people to live independently at home rather than being cared for in hospital. Just like the kind of care David was receiving.

And as winter comes and pressure increases on the NHS, these kinds of services are relied on more than ever.

“If you can’t guarantee that the person you’re expecting is the person you get then I think the system is very flawed,” Sarah tells me.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told Sky News: “Our sympathies are with David’s family and friends in this deeply concerning case.

“This government inherited a social care system in crisis. We are committed to building a National Care Service – underpinned by national standards and delivered locally – to improve the consistency of care and ensure everyone can live an independent and dignified life.”

“A healthy NHS and social care system requires strong regulation to ensure patient and user safety and that’s why we are reforming the Care Quality Commission to make sure it is fit for purpose.”

Access Care CEO Tiggy Bradshaw also told Sky News: “We were shocked to hear of this terrible deception and are deeply sorry for what Mr Seal and his family have experienced.

“When we heard of these alarming allegations, we contacted Action Fraud and the police and commenced an urgent safeguarding review. We have been in close touch with the family throughout and will continue to collaborate with the police.

“We have strict protocols in place however these extremely unusual circumstances have given us cause for reflection.

“We are in the process of developing further security checks and procedures for families in receipt of care at home.”

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Several days after approaching Hampshire Police for comment, a spokesperson told us they were looking into the case, adding: “Officers are carrying out a number of enquiries and the incident is still under investigation to determine whether any crimes have been committed.”

Sarah meanwhile says she has been left deeply concerned by the incident.

“We knew nothing about this person who was in my dad’s home. For all I know she could have been an axe murderer,” she told Sky News.

“The fact that the carer was able to get away with it for as long as she did put the entire system in doubt.

“If the system can be played this easily, then the system needs to change.”