Fresher and her friend die as drugs claim the lives of four in one weekend
FOUR young people, including two girl freshers living in the same university halls of residence, have died in a spate of drug-related deaths over the weekend.
The freshers, both aged 18, were found dead in Newcastle University accommodation, having moved in only a few days before.
The first was found unresponsive at 6am on Saturday, before the second was discovered at 1pm on Sunday.
Both are thought to have taken the class-B drug ketamine. It was not clear last night whether they were from the same household within the Park View Student Village.
One of the two girls was last night named d as Jeni Larmour, a former deputy head girl at the Royal School, Armagh, in Northern Ireland. She is believed to be the teenager found first, on Saturday.
A 21-year-old male student at nearby Northumbria University also died on Sunday. He is believed to have taken the class-A drug MDMA.
An 18-year-old man, who is not a university student, died in Washington, Tyne and Wear, after a cardiac arrest on Saturday. Police believe he also took MDMA.
Police have made ten arrests in connection with the four deaths and carried out searches with drugs dogs.
Miss Larmour, from Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, a member of her former school’s chamber choir and combined cadet force, had been due to start an architecture and urban planning degree.
Sandra Foster Larmour issued a brief tribute to her daughter on social media which read only: ‘My beautiful princess, my best friend.’
Miss Larmour’s grammar school praised her charity work and extracurricular activities. Royal School headmaster Graham Montgomery said: ‘It is with a profound sense of sadness and loss that the school community has learned of the sudden death of Jeni Larmour.’
He said she was ‘a model pupil, exemplifying many of the values which this school seeks to promote’. He added: ‘We have no doubt Jeni had a bright future ahead of her and we are saddened that has been so suddenly cut short.’
The other three individuals have not yet been identified.
Newcastle University said it did not write to students until after the second incident.
Vice Chancellor professor Chris Day said: ‘I have written twice to every single student in the last 24 hours.
Once yesterday afternoon … to make sure we hit students with a particularly hard message.
‘I have written to them again this morning when we had a bit more detail.’
Students at the university said they believed the North- East’s coronavirus lockdown may have contributed to the deaths.
One said: ‘People want the freshers experience but they can’t have it because everything is shutting down at 10pm. Even the local shop closes at 10pm so you can’t get alcohol. People might be trying drugs who wouldn’t do otherwise because there’s nothing to do except go back to your flat at the halls.’
An 18-year- old girl from a neighbouring block said: ‘The word is that a bad batch of pills has been offered around. We’re not having what would be a normal freshers’ experience and some people are compensating for that.’
Northumbria Police Chief Inspector Steve Wykes said: ‘Although our investigations are at an early stage and we continue to establish the circumstances around these tragedies, we want to reiterate our warning to people against taking drugs for recreational use.’
‘Particularly hard message’