Record ecstasy dose killed student

A 17-year-old student who collapsed at a party after taking ecstasy died of the biggest overdose of the drug yet recorded, an inquest heard yesterday.

A 17-year-old student who collapsed at a party after taking ecstasy died of the biggest overdose of the drug yet recorded, an inquest heard yesterday.

Jack Elliott stopped breathing after partying all night at a schoolfriend's £500,000 house near Southampton and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends said that they believed Jack, an A-level student at a college in Winchester who lived in the village of Curdridge, had taken at least 11 ecstasy tablets throughout the evening on 29 March. Post-mortem examination tests revealed that the teenager had a level of ecstasy of 10,420 milligrammes per litre of blood, the highest recorded.

Emmanuel Abu, a chemical pathologist, told Central Hampshire coroners' court that the highest previous level recorded was 7,720 milligrammes per litre of blood, when a patient had allegedly taken 42 tablets.

The hearing was told that Jack met up with his friends James Bush, James Stevens and Joseph Martin for drinks in a pub in Curdridge. After drinking there the friends moved on to Mr Stevens' home in the village to continue partying.

DC Martyn Allen said: "Jack had already had four whiskeys and a pint of lager and smoked cannabis at the party. The friends were dancing to music and taking the ecstasy. By the time of Jack's death it would appear he had taken 11 of the tablets." A man was subsequently charged with selling the ecstasy.

Dr Adman al-Badri, consultant pathologist at the Royal Hampshire Hospital in Winchester, said Jack's death was due to a large overdose of ecstasy. He said: "Tests revealed that Jack died of multiple organ failure." He added: "It is impossible to say how many tablets Jack had taken, but at the very least he had taken 11."

Grahame Short, the coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest in Winchester.