Boy of 13 killed by £2 ecstasy bought on Snapchat
‘Started acting strangely’
A BOY of 15 yesterday admitted selling £2 ‘Donkey Kong’ ecstasy tablets to a 13-year-old who died after taking the drug.
The teenager, who cannot be named due to his age, sold three pills to Carson Price over Snapchat before delivering them in person.
‘Carson went to the park and offered one to a friend,’ Margaret Cunningham told Cwmbran Youth Court in South Wales.
‘The friend declined. Carson took one half, then another half, then started acting strangely and collapsed.’
The prosecutor said emergency services were called to the park in Ystrad Mynach, near Caerphilly, and took Carson to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
An inquest in May found he had suffered a violent reaction to an ‘excessive’ amount of ecstasy.
Carson’s Snapchat messages led police to the teenage dealer, who under arrest gave officers the names of two men he said had supplied him with drugs. Friends of
Carson said he had purchased ‘Donkey Kong’ pills from the youth a week before his death 15 months ago, a claim denied by the 15-year-old.
But Miss Cunningham said that just five days after Carson’s death, and a day before his arrest, phone records showed the 15-year-old had again contacted his dealers.
One text message he sent read: ‘Reckon you can scrap me three pills until Saturday?’
The prosecutor said: ‘There were still messages on his phone days after Carson’s death, between him and the two males mentioned in his interview, where he was still asking about pills, despite the fact of the death of a young boy.’ The court heard that the 15-year-old had also since been dealt with by a youth court for possession of a bladed article, which he claimed he carried for protection and to ‘intimidate people’.
He spoke at the youth court only to confirm his name, date of birth, and to plead guilty to supplying Class A drugs.
District Judge Martin Brown said the teenager had ‘sold the drugs to make money’, and described evidence that he tried to source more drugs after Carson’s death as ‘chilling’.
The judge said: ‘Because of the enormity of the consequences of this offence, I want a pre-sentence report, because this is a young lad who, as a 14-year-old, is supplying Class A drugs, which is a shocking situation, and a short time after was found in possession of a blade.
‘Drugs and blade, blade and drugs, is not a good start to a young man’s life. Anyone would be shocked by this situation.’
Addressing the defendant, he said: ‘This won’t be something the family of the deceased recovers from very easily, if at all. I want to know if you have learned from this experience, because it’s troubling.
‘Even after this situation had become grave, it seems you were still attempting to source tablets for sale. That I find extremely worrying.’
The judge adjourned the hearing until August 18 for a report from youth justice officials.
Gwent Police said a 22-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of the supply of Class A drugs is still under investigation.
Carson’s mother Tatum is a personal trainer, who has a younger son Coby with Carson’s father Brian, a mechanic.