Leah Heyes' mother on how baby born after teenage daughter's drugs death 'saved' her

The mother of Leah Heyes has named the baby born after her 15-year-old daughter died from an MDMA overdose after the big sister she never met.

Kerry Roberts, 36, was pregnant with her second child when Leah collapsed and died in a car park in Northallerton in May 2019.

Her daughter Ava, now a year old, has the middle name Leah as a tribute to her elder sister.

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Mrs Roberts, of Northallerton, said Leah died before the family found out the sex of the new baby, but that she was 'excited' to be having a sibling.

Leah Heyes as a young childLeah Heyes as a young child
Leah Heyes as a young child

She has now spoken out about the dangers of taking drugs after an inquest held today heard that Leah had bought £10 worth of crystallised MDMA from local dealers and suffered a rapid cardiac arrest after ingesting a double dose of the party drug, also known as ecstasy.

Mrs Roberts was shocked to find that the drugs had cost her daughter less money than buying cheap alcohol. Two men - Mitchell Southern, 19, of Thirsk, and Connor Kirkwood, 18, of Dishforth - have been convicted of supplying the MDMA and are currently awaiting sentencing.

“Leah did arrange with friends to do this. I don’t know how she got the drugs, through friends and people she knew. There were quite a lot of people at the park and she had never done it before. I think she wanted to try it and she got it easily; it wasn’t expensive and she didn’t have very much money on her. It was probably cheaper than getting a bottle of cider.

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“I was pregnant when Leah died. Being pregnant and having a daughter has helped, I always say that Ava saved me. I could have gone any way, but I didn’t as I wanted to look after her. My partner and family have been brilliant, I have had so much support.

Leah was just 15 when she diedLeah was just 15 when she died
Leah was just 15 when she died

“Leah knew I was going to have a baby, she was going to come to a scan with me the week after she died. She was so excited, she didn’t know she was having a sister. I was in hospital for two days before because of sickness, and I came home two hours before (her death) happened."

Mrs Roberts knew Leah had smoked cannabis and drunk alcohol before, but had never seen her appear to be under the influence of harder drugs.

“Leah was very bubbly, she laughed a lot, you always knew Leah was around. She was loud in a fun way. She was 15 and obviously we had our arguments but she was really loving, she was like my best friend.

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"For a long time it was just me and her, we had a really good, open relationship, we spoke about all different drugs, though not MDMA specifically. She tried drink and I knew about that, I don’t know why she didn’t tell me about this. She had obviously had conversations with friends, I didn’t know if it was because I was ill that she didn’t speak to me about it. I think friends had a big effect on her decision that night and she was trying to impress her peers.

“I think parents don’t know how easy it is for kids to access this and how cheap it is; when we were younger it was a bottle of alcohol or something, but it’s cheaper than that, it is so easy to get. I don’t think we know enough, people think of cannabis or cocaine, we don’t know about MDMA and we should try and find out more and what it is.

"It is only when something awful happens, no one thinks about it or says anything about it so it takes something bad to happen for people to take it seriously.

“I think in Leah’s case it was to impress maybe one of the boys (who supplied the drugs). I think people need to realise how dangerous it is, it’s not just a bit of fun with your friends. It causes serious damage for families. Parents, schools, the media all have a part to play. Drugs like MDMA need to be taken more seriously. People know about harder drugs but people don’t know about MDMA. I think kids do it and deal it and take it because there isn’t much punishment.

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“They are dying because they don’t know about it, Leah has seen people doing it and getting away with it on a regular basis and she didn’t know what she was doing. That really is it, she didn’t realise the dangers. Even though I thought we had spoken about things enough there wasn’t enough to put her off.

Mrs Roberts is now working with North Yorkshire Police to raise awareness of the dangers of MDMA, which has killed two other teenagers around the UK in the past 18 months.

“If one person listens to me and doesn’t do it, doesn’t take it that is all I want, or if parents listen to me and speak to their kids and it stops even one person doing it. It can’t happen to somebody else; no parent should lose their child in this way."

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