‘Russian roulette’ ecstasy drug warning after uni student dies

Leeds Met undergraduate Adam Dixon, 18, was found dead in bed at his digs at the university’s Beckett Park Campus in Headingley after splitting a gram of MDMA with two friends on January 7. They had all looked “hyper, sweating and pale” to a fellow student at around midnight, Leeds Coroner’s Court heard yesterday.

Five hours later Mr Dixon, who had been head boy during his time at Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School in Halifax, was pronounced dead by paramedics, who were unable to resuscitate him when pals raised the alarm. It is the third ecstasy-related death in Leeds in the last 12 months, West Yorkshire Police confirmed.

The city’s coroner David Hinchliff recorded a narrative verdict of “death as a consequence of non-dependent use of ecstasy”.

He said: “(Ecstasy) is used prolifically by young people particularly in recreational environments and the number of deaths that occur bears no relation to how many people use it. Why this should have happened to Adam and on this particular occasion I really can’t say, which is why it’s rather like playing Russian roulette. This could happen to anyone.”

Consultant forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, who conducted the post mortem examination, confirmed Mr Dixon, a keen musician, had 5,014 micrograms of MDMA per litre of blood in his system, which is deemed a significant amount.

He told Mr Dixon’s family, who attended the inquest, that ecstasy can cause a user’s heart to beat irregularly and even stop, which he believed had happened.

The pathologist described the “idiosyncratic and unpredictable” nature of ecstasy, adding there was no “quality control” when it came to taking illegal recreational drugs.

He said: “If by chance you get a stronger batch it could do more harm. The problem is there is no real way of knowing what you are taking. There is no quality control. There’s no way you can say that you used the substance 100 times with no serious effect, as the next time it could be fatal. Just by taking one tablet you have no guarantee as to what’s in it. It might not even be the drug you purchased.”

Mr Dixon, who split his time between his Halifax home and Headingley digs, enrolled in a multimedia technology degree at Leeds Met in September 2011. He had spent three weeks at home over Christmas with his family, friends and long-term girlfriend before his death on Sunday, January 8 this year.

In a statement, his family said: “We are absolutely devastated by our tragic loss of Adam. We will never come to terms with the loss of this wonderful, bright young man who had everything to live for. We are, and always will be extremely proud of Adam, including his achievements at school. He had a warm, generous personality with a true zest for life.”

Mr Dixon played rugby union for his school team, had won medals and been voted player of the year. He also ran a club coaching nine and 10-year-olds rugby every week, while he helped his mother at her child care business after getting CRB checked.

The teenager, who loved playing guitar and drums and was lead vocalist in a band called Signed Anonymous, also played a “significant role” in a fundraising event for the Meningitis Trust after losing a school friend to the illness.

“We had so much to look forward to and so many plans,” said Mr Dixon’s father, David, adding that his son had been planning to make a speech at his 50th birthday party, and the family had been organising a trip to Morocco.

Det Con Ian Harper, who investigated Mr Dixon’s death, said the teenager had bought the drug from a dealer in Far Headingley on January 7. A 22-year-old man arrested on suspicion of supplying ecstasy at the time remains on police bail, he added.