Girl, 15, died after taking ecstasy for the first time, inquest hears

A 15-year-old girl died on a mountainside beauty spot after taking ecstasy for the first time, an inquest heard.

Schoolgirl Shauna Davies collapsed just minutes after taking the drug when she developed an “abnormal” heart rhythm.

An inquest, held on Wednesday, May 9, heard it was the first time Shauna had taken the Class A drug when she blacked out while walking up a mountain track to meet friends.

Friend Sophie Caldwell, 16, told police that Shauna began “hallucinating” during the walk up Caerphilly Mountain.

DC Claire Burke, of Gwent Police, who interviewed Sophie, said: “As they went up the mountain Shauna was behind Sophie.

“Shauna had become more and more delusional and started seeing trees moving.

“Shauna was describing trees moving and was telling different people to get away from her. She was hallucinating.”

DC Burke said Sophie realised Shauna was having “problems” before she saw her collapse on the ground.

James Harvey, who was also on the mountain, said he heard a girl shout out: “Come over here, my friend is having a seizure on the floor”.

Mr Harvey said Shauna’s body would “shake then stop” before her pulse stopped and her lips turned blue.

Gwent Coroner’s Court heard teenagers tried to give Shauna CPR and phoned 999.

But she was pronounced dead when she arrived at University Hospital of Wales in Heath, Cardiff, on June 18 last year.

Pathologist Dr Deryk James said Shauna, who lived with her mother in Caerphilly, died from toxicity from MDMA – the chemical name for ecstasy.

Shauna’s mother Maria Leggatt said her daughter was “healthy and happy” but had began experimenting with alcohol at 14 and cannabis around six months before her death. She said she wasn’t aware of her daughter using MDMA before her death.

Ms Leggett said Shauna, of Graig-y-Rhacca, had attended a school for pupils who have been expelled, and had shown “anger management issues”.

In a tribute issued at the time of Shauna’s death, the family said she had been loved by many and that she had loved her brother, sister and friends,

Gwent Coroner Wendy James said Shauna’s lifestyle had been “laden with risk” and hoped her teenage friends would consider the dangers of Class A drugs.

Miss James said: “It’s believed this was the first time the girls had taken MDMA.

“Shauna became disengaged at an early age and started experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

“This lifestyle was harmful to her well-being and fraught with dangers.

“The lifestyle she was leading was laden with risk and when she took these drugs she was gambling with her life.

“If any good can come from her tragically short life, it’s that her friends stop and consider the risk they take every time they take illegal drugs, and alter their lifestyles in tribute and in memory of their friend Shauna.

“It’s absolutely tragic that drugs have robbed her of her young life.”

The coroner recorded a conclusion of misadventure at the inquest in Newport.

In August last year a 17-old-year boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for 12 months after supplying Shauna and her friends with the drug.
The court was told how the teen, from the Gelligaer area, was arrested as part of a Gwent Police investigation into teen drug use following the death of Shauna.