Learn from Ecstasy deaths, urge parents
A GRIEVING father who held his son’s hand as he lay dying at a festival has urged anyone considering taking drugs to learn from his death, as three men were arrested yesterday.
Tommy Cowan, 20, and 18-year-old Georgia Jones died after falling ill within 20 minutes of each other at Mutiny Festival in Portsmouth on Saturday night. It is believed they may have taken super-strength “Green Heineken” Ecstasy pills.
Damian Cowan, 43, Mr Cowan’s father, said on Sky News: “All I can say is, take this on board. Look what’s happened. If you want to end up that way, carry on. If you don’t, don’t even think about it.”
Janine Milburn, Miss Jones’s mother, wrote on Facebook: “If nothing else, I hope what has happened to her will deter you from taking anything ever.”
The pair were not known to each other and police said they were not treating the deaths as suspicious. They were among 15 festival-goers admitted to Queen Alexandra Hospital, with organisers issuing a warning of “high strength or a bad batch” of drugs.
The second day of the festival was cancelled.
Police said they had made three arrests.