Ecstasy death girl mum’s tearful courtroom outburst at friend who delayed calling for an ambulance
Tragic Sky Nicol, 16, from Blackburn Lancs. had taken five times the fatal level of drug
THE DISTRAUGHT mother of a 16-year old girl who died after bingeing on Ecstasy fled a courtroom in tears as she dramatically accused one of her daughter's former school friends of killing her.
Grief-stricken Susan Graham’s outburst came as an inquest into Sky Nicol’s death heard how a friend of the tragic teen failed to call an ambulance when she fell unconscious.
Sky had taken FIVE times the fatal level of MDMA and was described as being “off the scale”.
Paramedics were eventually called to the friend's house, but only when a third teenager arrived after the unnamed friend called her HALF AN HOUR after Sky had collapsed.
Sky was rushed to hospital but died an hour later.
My daughter is never coming back. I will say it until the day I’m placed in my own coffin. They killed her
Sky's mother Susan Graham
According to friends she had “bashed up a massive bag of MDMA and tipped it into her mouth” in the hours before her death. Tests showed she had also taken significant amounts of heroin and cocaine.
During a courtroom confrontation Mrs Graham reacted with fury to the unnamed girl's evidence and shouted at her: "If you phoned the ambulance straight away my baby would still be here.
''In my opinion, you f****** killed her. You delayed that ambulance and stopped her getting the urgent attention she needed.
"I can't sit and listen to any more of this because they f****** killed her.
''As soon as she knew there was something wrong she should have phoned the ambulance. My daughter is never coming back. I will say it until the day I'm placed in my own coffin. They killed her."
She then left the hearing for five minutes to compose herself before returning.
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Pub landlord's daughter Sky, from Blackburn, Lancs, had attended The Heights Free School in the town where staff described her as ''a well-liked girl with a big personality'' and enjoyed sport and leisure and performing arts.
But the Blackburn hearing was told after leaving school in 2015 friends learnt the youngster had been abusing heroin and other drugs. The tragedy occurred on March 23 after Sky took significant amounts of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.
Sky got a bag containing MDMA, bashed it up and tipped it into her mouth. She took loads. Friends told her she’d end up dead
Sky's friend Emma McDonald
The friend, 16, who cannot be named told the hearing: ''Me and Sky were both on a bus at about 4.30pm. I do not know whether she was under the influence at that time but she got off before me.
"I got home but Sky then came about 45 minutes later and when she arrived, she seemed to be in a bit of a worse state than she had before, on the bus.
''I really do not know if she took anything after she got to my house but when she arrived, she definitely seemed, to me, to be under the influence of drugs. I was aware she had taken ecstasy and cocaine in the past, but never heroin."
"At 5.53pm I called my friend Emma McDonald and told her Sky was not right. I could hear Sky making strange noises in the background like she was trashing the room. She was shaking and I tried to help her. She was not able to hold a conversation and her lips had gone blue.
I knew something was wrong. I checked everywhere for a pulse
Sky's friend Emma McDonald
"My mum and my mum's sister were both in the house and my mum was aware Sky was in the bedroom. My mum told me to ring an ambulance and when Emma arrived at 6.30pm I called one."
Emma said: "I knew Sky had previously taken cocaine and ecstasy but was never aware of any adverse reaction to either. Our friend phoned me and said Sky had turned up and was in a bad state. She asked if I'd come down and help her.
''I thought they were just joking around. I could hear Sky in the background, but couldn't make sense of anything she was saying. It all sounded like wailing noises. I went downstairs to ask my mum if she'd drop me off. When I got there she was just lying unresponsive on the bed.
''She didn't react to me being there, or anything I was saying to her. She had her hands out and seemed totally spaced out. Our friend told me she thought Sky had taken something, but from the state of her I could have guessed it myself. I wouldn't have known what in particular she had taken.
"I grabbed her behind her neck. She was cold and warm at the same time. Her body was sticky. I began tapping her cheeks and saying her name but there was no response.
"I knew something was wrong. I checked everywhere for a pulse. I checked her arms, her heart and even put my ear to her chest. I recall saying, 'I can't hear anything at all. Call an ambulance now, quickly'. It was about a 10 minute wait for the ambulance. The paramedic on the phone told us to do CPR and we did everything we could.
"I had been told that in Blackburn, Sky got a bag containing MDMA, bashed it up and tipped it into her mouth. She took loads. Friends told her she'd end up dead but she just said she'd rather be dead. I think it is something that had been going on all day."
Sky was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital but was pronounced dead at 7.42pm. tests showed the levels of Ecstasy in Sky's blood was 5.19 microgrammes per litre. The level of fatality for ecstasy in the blood is 0.6-2.8 mg.
Consultant pathologist Dr Muammer Al-Mudhaffer said: "It is my belief that such a volume of drugs would pose a serious and significant threat to life. She had in her system five times the amount which could potentially kill her.''
Recording a conclusion of drug related death as a result of combined drug use, coroner Michael Singleton told Sky's family it was unlikely she could have been saved if the ambulance had been called sooner.
Sky has paid the ultimate price. I would hate for her friends not to learn from her death. You have my total, deepest sympathy for your loss
Coroner Michael Singleton
But he warned: "At 16 years of age, kids have a whole lifetime ahead of them. During that time, they will see amazing things. They will travel to amazing places and meet amazing people. They will do amazing things but I am afraid that those amazing things do not come in tablet form.
"People do not know what they are dealing with. They do not know when they take a tablet or ingest a powder what impurities they are taking into their bodies. They don't know what they are taking at all.
"Part of the problem with illicit drugs is that when you take such a cocktail of drugs as Sky did, the outcome is very unpredictable and, more often than not, fatal. As a parent myself I cannot begin to imagine the pain and the grief that you are dealing with.
"The short term high of these terrible drugs is nothing compared to the risks associated with it. Unfortunately, through her off the scale use of ecstasy, Sky has paid the ultimate price. I would hate for her friends not to learn from her death, and not to pass the message on. Her death has to mean something. It just has to. You have my total, deepest sympathy for your loss."
Speaking after the inquest, Sky's older sister Bronwyn Nicol, 18, said: "I'm heartbroken. She was outgoing, beautiful and lovely. We were so alike. I'll always miss my baby sister."
Police arrested a 16-year-old girl and a boy of 15 on suspicion of being concerned in ecstasy supply and released both on bail. A 46-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of obstructing the course of justice but was freed without charge.
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