Teenagers who supplied killer drugs to Devon schoolgirl sentenced

A teenager who supplied MDMA to young people, including a schoolgirl who died, was “greedy” for money, a judge has said.

Lucy Hill, 16, from Exmouth, died in December 2022 after taking MDMA and collapsing at the Move nightclub on Exeter Quay.

James Greaves, 19, of Hatt in Cornwall, and Taylor Rowsell, 18, of Rosebery Road in Exmouth, were sentenced for their roles in supplying the drugs at Exeter Crown Court on Monday 4 November.

The court heard that Greaves had supplied the MDMA tablets – also known ecstasy – to Rowsell, who sold it to people attending a young persons’ night at the club, where no alcohol was being served.

Rowsell made around £350 selling the pills to the partygoers, including Lucy and her friends.

Greaves and Rowsell were 17 and 16 respectively at the time of the offences and previously admitted supplying class A drugs.

Judge James Adkins handed Greaves a three-and-a-half-year sentence in a young offender institution, while Rowsell was given a two-year sentence.

Passing sentence, the judge said that Rowsell had expressed concerns about the dosages in the tablets, but still sold drugs to children, branding him “greedy”.

He said: “Your involvement was through immaturity, yes, to an extent, but you threw yourself into a drug dealing business for the status and the money.

“This was not a one-off, you had been dealing for months, you sold to children.

“Lucy Hill died because you sold her drugs, you sold her two tablets, despite the fact that you were concerned about the dosage.

“It seems to me you were simply greedy, and your greed for money was greater than your concern for any customer.”

Judge Adkins described Greaves as a “wholesaler”, who made up the drugs capsules for others to sell on the street.

He said Greaves had played a “leading role” in the “organising, buying and selling (of drugs) on a commercial scale” and that he knew Rowsell was selling drugs to children.

Judge Adkins said: “You knew that Rowsell was acquiring drugs to sell to children, that’s evident from text messages.

“The additional aggravating feature is obvious – the drug you supplied killed a 16-year-old girl.”