Grieving sister warns of deadly legal highs after Telford death

Bricklayer Jamie Penn took a designer drug that has not been outlawed.

The 29-year-old took two substances during a night out, but later fell ill.

Sister Charlotte Delo said his death was a lesson to all people tempted to take substances in search of a high – and demanded action to outlaw the drugs.

She said her brother, who lived in Telford, had everything to look forward to when he died after taking drugs known as meow and synthetic coke.

"Jamie had prospects, he had a future, and it's all gone now," she said after an inquest in Wellington.

"He had just started a bricklaying course, he had just started a nice new relationship, he was a family man who had a lot of friends.

"I will never see my big brother again."

Two friends told the inquest how they frantically tried to revive Mr Penn, of no fixed address, who was shaking and foaming at the mouth during his final moments on

May 31 last year.

He was pronounced dead after being taken to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital.

Senior Telford and Wrekin coroner John Ellery was told how shortly before his death Mr Penn had been taking legal drugs which they had bought from a house in Shrewsbury during the early hours of the morning.

The inquest was told that Miss Delo, of Haybridge Road, Hadley, had received a letter from Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone outlining the Government's intention to ban the drugs, also referred to at the inquest as 4,4 DMAR.

Det Sgt Ian Rutherford said the drugs presented a real danger to those who took them, and people should not under any circumstances take them.

"These drugs are currently legal," he told the court. "They are of concern for the police, but we have to wait for the Government to make them illegal.

"People shouldn't be taking anything if they don't know what it is. If it is not prescribed by a medical expert, do not take it."

Speaking after the inquest, Miss Delo, who was supported by her half brother Sheridan, added: "These drugs are already serial killers in Ireland. Jamie regularly travelled up to Scotland to see his auntie, he was planning to build a house up there with his cousin, but now that has all gone.

"If something has not been prescribed, do not take it."

In a letter to Miss Delo, crime prevention minister Mrs Featherstone wrote about her sorrow at Mr Penn's death, and said the Government was hoping to have 4,4 DMAR declared illegal as early as next month.

She said legislation was going through parliament which would see them being made Class A controlled drugs, which would mean anybody caught dealing in them faced the possibility of life in prison and unlimited fines.

"There is evidence of the serious harm that 4,4 DMAR causes," Mrs Featherstone wrote.

Mr Ellery concluded that Mr Penn had died from a combination of the two drugs.

"There is no evidence that he intended to kill himself," he said. "His death was a combination of these two and possibly more drugs, so it will be recorded as a drug-related death.

"This highlights the consequences of taking these drugs, and I endorse the action taken locally by the police, and nationally as indicated in the letter by the Rt Hon Lynne Featherstone."

Friends tried to revive Jamie

Friends of tragic Telford bricklayer Jamie Penn told how they frantically tried to revive him as he suffered convulsions caused by taking a legal high.

Jason Clarke and Carmel Dorrell told an inquest at Wellington how Mr Clarke had been shaking and foaming at the mouth during the hours leading up to his death in May last year.

Eventually an ambulance was called and Mr Penn was taken to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Mr Clarke told the inquest how he had tried to stop Mr Penn from choking on his tongue by inserting teaspoons into his mouth, but they were unable to save him.

The inquest was told that Mr Penn had taken MDMA, more commonly known as ecstasy, the night before his death.

However, he later took the legal high 4,4 DMAR — referred in the hearing as 'meow' – which reacted with the ecstasy, causing his death.

It is believed Mr Penn would be alive today had he not taken the meow. Speaking after the case, Sgt Ian Rutherford of West Mercia Police said it was a reaction between the ecstasy Mr Penn had taken earlier and 4,4 DMAR which caused Mr Penn's death.

Following Mr Penn's death, Shropshire Council and West Mercia Police issued a warning about DMAR being circulated around the county.

They said it had been responsible for the deaths of more than 20 people in Northern Ireland and others in Hungary.

Detective Inspector Tom Harding said that 4,4-DMAR was sometimes supplied as 'crystal meow' and was also passed off in white powder form as cocaine. It has also been seized abroad in the form of speckled brown tablets with a cherry or cross motif on them.

Taking 4,4-DMAR can cause serious side effects including psychotic symptoms, hypothermia, foaming at the mouth, breathing problems and cardiac arrest, especially after a high dose or in combination with other drugs.

Mr Harding said: "This new psychoactive substance is potentially lethal and we have reason to believe that it is for sale in and around Shropshire, and possibly elsewhere.

"Such drugs are known as 'legal highs', but just because they are not currently banned does not mean they are not dangerous. Taking them in combination or mixed with other controlled or illegal drugs could have tragic consequences."

The inquest, held at Wellington Civic Centre yesterday, heard of a chaotic series of event that led to Mr Penn's death.

Miss Dorrell told the inquest how Mr Penn arrived at her house in Cranage Crescent, Wellington, between 11pm and midnight on May 30.

She said he was already "wasted" on drugs by the time he arrived, and went to lie down with the lights switched off.

Miss Dorrell said she, Mr Penn, Mr Clarke and another man drove over to the house of a young woman in Shrewsbury at around 2-3am.

"We went inside and sat down, and I saw Jamie taking drugs, I'm not sure what he was taking.

"I don't know exactly what Jamie was taking. I saw Jamie take some meow, we stayed for about an hour. I don't know what time we left exactly, but it was starting to get light, so it would probably have been about 4-5am.

"Jamie continued taking drugs when we got back, and I was pretty wrecked myself. It seemed like a long day."

Miss Dorrell said Mr Penn later took a cold bath, while she, Mr Clarke and Mr Clarke's friend went to the Tesco car park to pick up Mr Clarke's car.

She added: "As Jamie got out of the shower, he was shaking. Jay (Mr Clarke) helped Jamie out of the bath into my bedroom.

"He had no clothes on, so I tried to pull my dark blue pyjama bottoms on him. It was difficult because he was shaking lots.

"When I was talking he was listening, but he couldn't speak, he was signalling at me back by making hand movements."

She said Mr Clarke tried to persuade Mr Penn to go out into the garden to get some fresh air."

They became alarmed when he started foaming at the mouth and feared he was choking, and together they dragged him onto a trampoline in the garden.

Mr Clarke, a part-time car salesman, said he and a friend drove to Miss Dorrell's house during the early hours of the morning, and picked up Mr Penn and Miss Dorrell.

"I left my car up at Tesco car park and got a lift," he said.

"I had been sniffing earlier in the evening, and we went up to Shrewsbury to get some meow and synthetic coke. Synthetic coke is legal, it is much cheaper than normal coke."

He said Jamie was visibly ill by the time they got back to Miss Dorrell's house, but he continued to snort the powder known as 'meow' throughout the night."

Mr Clarke said his friend, who had been driving on the night in question, had to pick up his son the following morning. Mr Clarke, Miss Dorrell and the friend left Mr Penn in the house while they went to Tesco to pick up Mr Clarke's car.

"We would have taken him with us, but he said he was having a bath."

Mr Penn's sister Charlotte Delo asked Mr Clarke why he did not call for an ambulance sooner.

Mr Clarke said: "He was still with us, he said he was all right. He was shaking and clawing a bit, but if you take these drugs, that is what often happens. He seemed to be better when he went out to walk around the garden.

"My mum was epileptic, and I thought he might be having an epileptic fit or something like that. I thought I would try to get the spoons to stop him choking."