Lecturer may face manslaughter charge over girl’s ecstasy death

Isobel Reilly, 15, died in April last year after taking ecstasy found hidden in a wardrobe during an unsupervised party in the west London home of Brian Dodgeon and Angela Hadjipateras.

Dodgeon, 61 was given an eight-month sentence suspended for two years at London’s Isleworth Crown Court last December for possessing class A drugs, including ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and a psychedelic drug known as foxy methoxy.

An inquest into Isobel’s death at Westminster Coroner’s Court was adjourned yesterday, and new evidence was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to consider if Dodgeon and Ms Hadjipateras should be charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Dodgeon was due to give evidence at the inquest but never got the chance.

The coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, said new charges could be brought against him and his partner as the inquest heard evidence not previously considered by the CPS.

She highlighted the facts that Dodgeon and Ms Hadjipateras knew a party would be taking place, accepted that under-age teenagers might be drinking and that their daughter had previously found a stash of cannabis in her father’s drawer.

Questions needed to be answered about whether Isobel’s death was preventable, she said.

“It’s with an extremely heavy heart that I apply my duty to adjourn because, in my view, it is likely that a charge of gross negligence manslaughter could be brought against either Ms Hadjipateras or Mr Dodgeon,” said Dr Wilcox. “Both these people had separate and concurrent duties to be considered.

“The evidence, when I reflected upon it, is different to the evidence the CPS originally considered in relation to Mr Dodgeon.”

Dodgeon, a former research fellow at the University of London’s Institute of Education, and his partner went away for the night on April 22 2011, Good Friday, leaving their daughter alone at their home in north Kensington.

They knew she had used Facebook to organise a party, which was attended by about 30 young people who drank cider, wine and spirits, and smoked marijuana.

Their daughter told partygoers she had previously found a stash of cannabis in her father’s drawer, and, at about 1am when about half had left, three of the teenagers went to an “out-of-bounds” bedroom in a bid to find some more.

They discovered a canister containing a selection of drugs in capsules, plastic containers and bags and were debating whether they should take them, the hearing heard. “Issy took one of the pills out of the bag and was looking at it,” a witness said. “People were discussing taking them. I was against it as we didn’t know what they were.”

Isobel, who had been referred to a drink and drugs advisor by her school, was said to have taken one of the pink pills with a swig of beer, later taking the other.

She started suffering adverse effects from the drug, which was ecstasy, but would not let her friends call an ambulance because she thought she would get into trouble.

The boy added: “Around 3am she was breathing heavily. She was quite panicky. Her jaw was moving as well. I looked it up on the internet and thought it must be ecstasy.

“She started to get really hot and sweaty and went upstairs to lay down. We said should we call an ambulance but Issy said no.”

At about 4am she collapsed and began having a fit.

When she stopped breathing ,and her friends could not find a pulse they attempted to perform mouth-to-mouth and CPR.

They dialled 999 for an ambulance however Isobel died at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, at 6.30am.

Pathologist Dr Wilkins had told the inquest it was impossible to say whether she might have been survived if paramedics had been called sooner.

The inquest heard the teenager, from Acton, west London, who attended Chiswick Community School, died of MDMA poisoning.

Dodgeon’s daughter and two 14-year-old boys also needed hospital treatment after the party.

Dodgeon told police in interview he was a recreational drug user and described himself as an “old hippie”.

The lecturer, a former social worker whose research subjects have included health inequalities and alcohol consumption patterns, said it had “never crossed his mind” that someone would find the drugs which were hidden in a wardrobe.

About a week after the incident, Dodgeon attempted suicide by leaping from a bridge over the North Circular road in Walthamstow, east London.

He required brain surgery after fracturing his skull and broke numerous bones, including a femur, an elbow and a heel.