Man jailed for supplying drug which killed Bedford teenager

Another teenager with her suffered severe vomiting after taking the drug and a third youngster who took it suffered a seizure in a McDonald’s restaurant in the town.

Today the 21-year -ld man who supplied the drug the the group appeared for sentence at Luton Crown Court via a video link from the prison where he is being held.

Matthew Duggan-Hill of Chaucer Road, Bedford, pleaded guilty to two offences of supplying a class a drug, one offence of possessing a class a drug with intent and a fourth charge of possessing cannabis.

Prosecutor Nigel Ogborne told the court how shortly bore 11pm on Saturday May 27 this year an ambulance was called to the home of 17-year-old Luna Alves who lived in Bedford High Street.

She had started fitting after taking the drug, that had been bought earlier from Duggan-Hill

A number of other young people were found at the address including another teenger who was being violently sick.

Four people including Miss Alves were taken by ambulance to hospital and sadly she died later that night.

The court was told police investigating discovered the MDMA had been bought by one of the group earlier in the evening in an alleyway close to Bedford Railway station.

An examination of the phone records of the young girl who had bought the drugs for the group showed that the dealer she met had the street name “Banging Dizz Bedford” and police were able to trace the number to the defendant

The court heard that Duggan-Hill was at the time subject to a suspended prison sentence of 22 weeks given to him in September 2015 for sending a malicious communication.

Jane Anderson defending said Duggan-Hill was “deeply sorry” for the death of the girl who had died as a result of taking the drug.

As a result she said, “He has reflected a lot on his behaviour and has been thinking about the impact and his thoughts go out to the family of Miss Alves and he can’t imagine the pain they are suffering.

Miss Anderson said he was now determined not to return to his old ways of drug abuse.

She said as a result of his own drug taking he had suffered mental health issues.

Judge Lynn Tayton QC sentenced Duggan-Hill to four years’ imprisonnmemt and activated 16 weeks of the suspended sentence to run consecutively.