Thom Belk: Tributes paid to Salisbury man who died aged 36

Thomas Andrew Belk, known as Thom, died suddenly on December 26, 2023 at the age of 36.

Thom lived on London Road and worked as a chef in the city centre, but he was also well known for being heavily involved in Salisbury's music scene.

Read more: Success as Thom Belk Community Fund launches at Arts Centre

See also: Thom Belk's dad praises sell-out Salisbury Arts Centre event

On Christmas Day of 2023, he had been working at The Pheasant Inn before he went to his friend's house in Bishopdown that evening, where they drank alcohol and took cocaine.

Thom decided to go for a lie down because he wasn’t feeling well, but by midnight, he came back downstairs, where he was seen consuming a bottle of prosecco and taking more cocaine of an unknown quantity.

Thom went to bed at around 3am and his friends heard him snoring in the bedroom. The following day, they heard a loud thud. It was at approximately midday when a friend found him unresponsive on the floor, and 999 was called.

The inquest heard that CPR was attempted, but the attending paramedic confirmed his death at 1.06pm.

Senior coroner David Ridley ruled Thom's death was caused by cocaine toxicity as a consequence of taking too much of the drug.

Combined with alcohol, cocaine creates a more powerful metabolite, causing Thom's cardiac arrest, which was not recoverable.

READ MORE: What happens at an inquest and what can the press report?

A statement from his sister Charleigh Porter was read at the inquest.

She said: "On one day, Thom was the life and soul of the party, and on another, he may not be able to get out of bed due to his crippling anxiety.

"No one would have known; he was always there to help others, and only those close to him knew his struggles. He never said no to anyone and wanted to help them."

Thom's mum, Mandy Belk, dad Andy Belk, sisters Charleigh Porter and Aleisha Parham, step-mum Jacqui Parham and brother-in-law Liam Porter wanted to share their experience with the police's handling of Thom's death.

The family told the Journal that they were not informed of Thom's death until December 27 - a day after his death - despite Thom's phone being unlocked, with him on the scene and his contacts accessible.

When they were taken to the police station, they were taken to a table in an open area where they said they could hear people "talking loudly on mobile phones".

The sergeant was said to be too busy to come down and speak with them, so the officer had to go back and forth to give messages to the sergeant.

They said: “It was so disrespectful. We had just found out we had lost a family relative, and they’re treating us like we have lost a phone or something.

"To the police, he was just a job handed over from the day before – it’s really sad. Any contact we had with the police was poor at the very best.”

The family has said they do not wish another family to go through a similar experience and hope that the police will "review their practice with sudden death and informing next of kin".

Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said: “May I extend my sympathies to the family of Thomas Belk. To lose a loved one so suddenly and at such a young age is such an upsetting and traumatic experience for them.

“I am also extremely concerned to hear the family’s views of their experience with Wiltshire Police and the seeming lack of care and attention they received at such a vulnerable and distressing time.

"I will be speaking to the Chief Constable regarding the concerns raised and will ask for reassurances that improvements have been made since then to ensure to another grieving family is not left feeling this way.”

Wiltshire Police temporary chief superintendent Doug Downing said: “Firstly we would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Thomas Belk.

“We will be making direct contact with the family as a priority to speak to them further about the comments made to the Salisbury Journal and the service they received.”

Since Thom's death, a community fund has been set up to support young people interested in music, arts and sport in his honour.

Andy said: “In the view of the inquest if there are people supporting his community fund who feel that how he died may mean they can’t be a part of it anymore, we understand. We don’t feel we should be embarrassed about it because accidents can happen."

Charleigh added: "He made a reckless decision. This does not take away the person he was or all the work he did for the community and others.

"It does not matter what caused his death, it matters that he had to pay such a high price for a tragic misjudgement. It could have been any of the people there that died; unfortunately, it was Thom.

“I just feel something good should come from all of this. If it stops somebody else taking cocaine, it could save a life.”

To donate money to the fund in his honour, click here.

Mr Belk was also a frequent contributor to the Journal over the years, with many contributions to the sports desk and entertainment section of this newspaper. We are grateful for his work and our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time.