Teenager Died As He Chatted With Friends On Skype

Teenager Died As He Chatted With Friends On Skype
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A teenage drug user collapsed and died in front of his horrified friends while they were chatting on Skype about getting high.

An inquest heard that Patrick McMullen, 17, was telling friends about the half a gram of ecstasy and three LSD tabs he'd just taken when he suddenly keeled over. He was heard 'banging around' and then fell silent.

The mother of one of the three friends he was talking to dialled 999 but an ambulance crew found him dead on his bedroom floor at home in Puddletown, Dorset.

His mother, Collete, told the inquest she could not persuade him to give up drugs.

She added: "He thought taking drugs was a way of expanding his mind. He thought himself very well-informed on this subject."

Patrick, who was expelled from school for drug dealing, was a regular LSD and cannabis user.

His parents were away on August 31 this year, the night he told his friends on Skype: "This is high-quality stuff. I'm starting to feel the effects now."

One friend, Jack Sainsbury, 17, said: "He couldn't hold a conversation. He wasn't making any sense."

Dorset coroner Sheriff Payne ruled the death was caused by abusing illicit drugs, adding: "It's a very sad end for a young man, particularly one who felt so confident in the use of drugs."