A DORCHESTER man has died on Jamaica after packets of cocaine in his stomach burst open.

Police said Lee Brand, 33, suffered a cardiac arrest hours before he was due to fly back to England.

He had been an occasional volunteer worker at BJ Herp Supplies reptile centre near Dorchester.

Mr Brand, whose body has now been flown back to England following a post-mortem, is understood to have died in a car on the way to hospital.

Inspector Clinton Russell of Negril Police in Jamaica confirmed to the Echo today that the force was still awaiting the results of a toxicology test conducted on Mr Brand's body. However, he said that the substance found in packets in Mr Brand's stomach was cocaine and that he had died after the packets burst before boarding his plane.

Insp Russell said officers were continuing to investigate the case but could give no further details.

The owner of BJ Herp Supplies, Jerry Cole, said: "It's very unfortunate and I'm very sad about it.

"He was an enthusiastic customer who became a friend over a while and volunteered with us for a time."

Lee Brand was the son of millionaire businessman Terry Brand, who killed himself in 1997 by flying a light aircraft into the sea off Bournemouth.

Following the death, Lee Brand appeared at Bourne-mouth Crown Court in 2000 charged with stealing £4,111 his father had left for someone else in his will.

The court heard Lee Brand and his mother Linda, Terry's first wife, had been named as the executors of his estate.

Lee Brand received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, as punishment.