A 13-year-old schoolboy died after “violently reacting” to illegal drugs, a coroner has said.

Carson Price, from Hengoed, died on April 12 last year after taking a form of ecstasy known as ‘Donkey Kong’ in Ystrad Mynach Park.

He was found “in and out of consciousness, pale and shaking” and was taken to the University Hospital Wales, Cardiff, where he later died.

The coroner ruled that Carson, who was a pupil at Lewis School Pengam, died after taking an “excessive” amount of the drug.

Coroner Sarah Le Fevre said: “He reacted violently to this drug and despite the efforts of medical staff, died from the effects.”

A vigil for Carson was held at Ystrad Mynach Park six days after his death and was attended by several hundred people, including Carson’s family and friends.

Speaking to the BBC, Carson’s mother, Tatum Price, said: “Carson was a lovely, brainy, intelligent boy with so much of a future and it just got taken away within the space of an hour for thinking they were going to have fun and be cool.

“It could happen to anyone.

“I want to leave the reminder, If I can stop one person and one family going through what we’ve been through, because it changes your life. Our lives have changed forever now without Carson.”