Two teens have been jailed for a combined total of nearly 3 years for supplying drugs which killed 15 year old girl
Two teenagers have been sentenced to a combined total of nearly three years for supplying MDMA.
Mitchell Southern from Thirsk was jailed for 12 months and Connor Kirkwood from Dishforth was jailed for 21 months.
Connor Kirkwood, 18, from Dishforth, and Mitchell Southern, 19, from Thirsk, both pleaded guilty to supplying MDMA, also known as ecstasy, which killed 15-year-old Leah Heyes. Kirkwood also pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine.
Leah Heyes died in hospital after collapsing in Applegarth Car Park in Northallerton on 11 May 2019.
The judge paid tribute to the family of Leah Heyes and warned about the tragic consequences of taking drugs.
An inquest into her death heard she had taken a double dose of MDMA, the chemical name for ecstasy and had arranged to buy the drugs several days earlier via text message.
The inquest held at County Hall in North Yorkshire heard that the teenager suffered a 'rapid cardiac arrest' soon after ingesting the MDMA, and was unresponsive on arrival at James Cook University Hospital.
Kerry Roberts, Leah's mum, says she did manage to speak her daughter, who she describes as her best friend, on the night she collapsed.
Leah’s mum Kerry Roberts is now working with the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire Julia Mulligan to raise awareness of the drug.
Following Leah’s death, the Conservative North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan held a drugs summit in the county and said she was told the drug is being sold for as little as £2.50 on the streets of North Yorkshire.
Our reporter Katie Cole spoke to Leah's mum, Kerry Roberts, about her fight to raise awareness of the dangers of MDMA: