Two teens arrested after drugs death of girl, 14

TWO teenagers have been arrested after the death of a girl of 14 who is believed to have taken drugs.

Bethany Devlin collapsed in the early hours of yesterday at a property in the upmarket village of Greasby on the Wirral.

The tragedy is the latest in a string of fatalities among young people who have experimented with recreational drugs.

According to the NHS, more children than ever are taking them – with one in ten 11-year- olds admitting to trying drugs, and the figure rising to more than a third among 15-year-olds.

It was unclear last night exactly what drug Bethany had taken, and police said a post-mortem examination was due to be held to establish her cause of death.

Bethany’s parents Angela, 32, and Sean, 31, who have three younger sons, were too upset to comment yesterday.

Merseyside Police said a boy aged 14, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been arrested on suspicion of supplying or offering to supply an unspecified controlled drug.

A man of 18, of nearby Tranmere, was later arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply controlled drugs.

Detective Inspector Paul Parry, of Merseyside Police, said: ‘This is a terribly tragic incident which has resulted in the death of a 14year-old girl.

‘We want people to think carefully before they consider taking drugs – it is not only illegal to buy and sell drugs, but taking illegal substances can also be very dangerous and potentially fatal.

‘People taking these drugs don’t know what’s in them, where they’ve come from or what effects they may have. We know that children sometimes use and share drugs, largely because they are afraid of taking them on their own, but they need to understand that passing a Class A drug on to another child amounts to supplying.’ It is underrecent stood a rapid response paramedic, plus two ambulances, were sent to the address at around 1.30am yesterday. Bethany was pronounced dead at the scene.

There have been a series of drug tragedies involving teenagers in months. Less than a fortnight ago 15-year-old Shakira Pellow died in Newquay, Cornwall, after apparently taking ecstasy tablets with Lego Duplo logos on them.

Days earlier Reece Murphy, 16, died from taking MDMA – a pure form of ecstasy – after he finished his GCSEs in Dorchester, Dorset. On June 23, showjumper Hannah Bragg, 15, from Tavistock, Devon, died after taking the Class A substance while also out celebrating the end of her exams.

Luke Pennington, 14, died after he took the synthetic drug Spice at a friend’s house in Stockport, Cheshire, in March.

In 2016 almost a quarter of UK school pupils admitted to taking drugs – compared to 15 per cent in 2014. Almost half said they had bought them from a friend of the same age.

Tributes to Bethany flooded in on social media yesterday. Cathy Redfern wrote that she was ‘a beautiful girl’ who would ‘be greatly missed’. Jenny Kirton described her as ‘a lovely special girl’ whose death would be a ‘devastating loss’ to her family and community.

Friend Millie Mckeown also wrote on Facebook: ‘I was only speaking with you last night and if I knew you was gunna [sic] take this then I would of [sic] stopped you. Had the best times with you. Rest in peace gorgeous girl love and miss you.’

‘Devastating loss to her family’