Accused ‘admitted giving ecstasy’ to drug death girl, 13
‘Actually died in my arms’
A MAN accused of killing a schoolgirl by supplying her with ecstasy told a friend he gave her the drug and that she died in his arms, a court heard yesterday.
Prosecutors claim Callum Owens killed 13-year-old Grace Handling in June 2018.
Yesterday, witness Alisha McLean, 18, told a jury at the High Court in Glasgow that
Owens, 19, contacted her the day after the death. He denies the culpable homicide of Grace at his home in Irvine, Ayrshire, on June 28, 2018, by supplying her with ecstasy, and charges of supplying the drug.
Giving evidence, Miss McLean, from Stevenston, Ayrshire, said she received messages from Owens on June 29, 2018. He began by saying: ‘I’m going, probably never coming back.’ Minutes later he revealed he had ‘killed’ someone. ‘They choked on their sick in my gaff.’
The court heard that when Miss McLean said that meant he hadn’t killed anyone, he replied: ‘I gave her the pills tho.’
When asked who was dead in his house, he replied: ‘Wee Grace Handling. Tried to give her CPR and everything. She actually died in my arms. It’s all my fault.’
Miss McLean then suggested Owens should phone the police and claim he found her lying outside his house.
Defence QC Donald Findlay asked Miss McLean: ‘Does he say that he fell asleep and his impression is she had choked in some way and he thought she was dead, he started to do something about it, but there was nothing he could do?’ Miss McLean replied: ‘Yes.’ Earlier, the court heard that Grace, who was also from
Irvine, told a friend she had taken three blue pills.
The schoolgirl, who cannot be named, said she spoke to Grace on the phone around 8pm on June 28, 2018.
She told prosecutor Alex Prentice, QC: ‘She was slurring her words. She told me she had took three blue pills. I knew she meant ecstasy.’
Grace’s mother Lorraine Handling, 47, a music tutor, told the court her daughter self-harmed and had an alcohol problem. Mr Findlay asked her: ‘Were you aware Grace had tried to commit suicide?’
She replied: ‘I think she was just crying out for help.’
The trial continues.