Lock up man who gave my son deadly magic mushrooms
THE mother of a French student who died after taking hallucinogenic ‘magic mushrooms’ has appealed to a sheriff to jail the man who supplied her son with the illegal drugs.
A massive search was launched last October after 20-year-old Antoine Maury went missing on a night out in Edinburgh, leaving a pile of clothes in a city-centre park.
Weeks later his body was discovered in Duddingston Loch, near Arthur’s Seat. Tests showed Mr Maury, a music management student at Edinburgh College, had traces of hallucinogenic chemicals in his blood.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal that on October 18 Scott Mckerral, 20, pleaded guilty to supplying a Class A drug containing psilocin, also known as ‘magic mushrooms’ to Mr Maury. He is due to be sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday. Now Mr Maury’s mother has written to the court to demand justice for her son.
Laura Vesterinen-Maury fears Mckerral will be treated leniently as the charge against him of supplying a Class A drug does not mention the tragic outcome of his actions.
She said: ‘I am not bitter or vindictive, but I am angry. I want this boy to go to jail, at least for a while, so he understands the consequences of his actions. Whatever happens on Wednesday, he has the rest of his life ahead of him, while Antoine lost everything.’
Mrs Vesterinen-Maury will be in court to hear the sentence but has been told she cannot address the proceedings.
Mckerral, from Campbeltown, Argyll, admitted by letter to supplying the Class A substance to others and, in particular, to Mr Maury.
In messages to the Crown, Mrs Vesterinen-Maury has told of the effect her son’s death has had on her family.
She said: ‘We are simply devastated. Emilia, Antoine’s younger sister, now has to look towards the rest of her life without the care and support of her older brother.
‘Antoine’s father is brokenhearted as he tries to get on with his life. I am carrying on, because I must as a mother.’
But she added: ‘How is it possible the person who gave Antoine the drugs that led to his death is not held accountable by the law for what happened?’
‘It is very simple: he broke the law. I think that, as soon as the police got the proof that he had given drugs to Antoine on the night of my son’s disappearance, he should have been arrested and kept in custody.’