REST EASY MY FRIEND
Tributes to Mark, 18, who sparked drugs alert
A TEENAGER whose death was among four which sparked an illegal drugs warning from police has been described as “one of a kind”.
Police believe Mark Johnston, 18, became seriously ill at a flat after taking MDMA last weekend.
He is one of four youngsters to lose their lives in the area – including two 18-year-old university students.
Online tributes included: “RIP Mark Johnston, one of a kind.” Another wrote: “Rest easy my friend. You will be missed.”
Mark had been with friends at an upstairs flat in Washington, Tyne and Wear, in the early hours of Saturday.
Police believe he fell ill at 3.50pm later that day after taking the Class A drug.
Two women, believed to be family members, rushed to the scene. Neighbours described their distress after one briefly got into the ambulance with Mark.
Some were devastated and furious about his death.
One local said: “There was a party there in the early hours of Saturday, it looked as though there were a lot of people in the flat, a mixed group of young men and women.
“Then suddenly in the afternoon ambulances started turning up and a young lad was carried out.”
The two women’s distress will haunt those who witnessed it “for a long time”, one of the residents said.
They added: “It was absolutely awful. He was no more than a boy, and he’s lost his life needlessly. I feel so sorry for his family, they were distraught. Anyone
who saw that happening wouldn’t go near drugs again in their life.”
Mark was a former pupil at Biddick Academy in Washington and only turned 18 during the summer. He was described by a member of his family as a “kind, nice, funny young lad”.
The kind- hearted youngster had asked friends to donate to Cancer Research on his birthday last year.
Northumbria Police have arrested 11 people on suspicion of drug-related offences over the four deaths.
Inquiries are ongoing into the deaths of two 18-year-old students who were found unresponsive in Newcastle University accommodation. It is feared they took ketamine.
The women were “freshers” who had been in the city for less than 48 hours.
Jeni Larmour was described by her old school as a “model pupil”.
The Royal School in Armagh, Northern Ireland, said of the former deputy head girl: “Given her academic ability and personality, Jeni had a bright future ahead of her.
“We are saddened that it has been so suddenly cut short.”
Police say Mark and another man, 21, who was a Northumbria University student, may have taken MDMA.
Chief Insp Steve Wykes, of Northumbria Police, urged students with illegal drugs to dispose of them safely.
He said: “We are all still in shock at what has been an incredibly sad and difficult weekend.” Public safety was their “absolute priority”, he added.
He was no more than a boy... he’s lost his life needlessly
NEIGHBOUR NEAR FLAT WHERE MARK BECAME ILL