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University lecturer pleads guilty to drug possession following schoolgirl death

Summary:

Isobel Jones-Reilly, 15, collapsed and died during an unsupervised party at the lecturer’s Notting Hill house.

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By Holly Christodoulou

A university lecturer pleaded guilty to multiple counts of drug possession last Monday, following the death of a schoolgirl during a party at his home.

Brian Dodgeon, 61, who kept a cocktail of party drugs stashed away in his Notting Hill house, will next appear in Isleworth Magistrates’ Court on November 18 for sentencing.

Isobel Jones-Reilly, 15, collapsed and died during an unsupervised party at the University of London research fellow’s home on April 22 of this year.

Prosecutor Nisha Dutt said: “By 3am Isobel had shown signs of deterioration.

“She had started hallucinating and became very hot and red faced.”

Isobel took the drugs after Dodgeon’s daughter, Beatrice Hadjipateras, 14, told the party-goers she had previously found cannabis in her father’s drawer.

Beatrice, and three friends, went in an out-of-bounds bedroom and found a canister containing a selection of  illegal tablets.

She and two others took one tablet, whereas Isobel, who lived in South Acton, had twice that amount.

Ms Nutt added: “After about an hour, she lay on the bed frothing at the mouth, went pale and was motionless.

“She stopped breathing and friends could not find a pulse.”

Isobel’s friends attempted mouth-to-mouth and CPR while waiting for an ambulance, but she was pronounced dead at 6.30am at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.

Beatrice and two 14-year-old boys were also kept in hospital after the party.

Dodgeon, who had been in Hastings with partner Angela Hadjipateras, was arrested at the hospital and questioned by police.

The former social worker told officers he was an old hippy, and said he was a recreational drug user who had accumulated the drugs over a number of years.

A week after the incident, Dodgeon attempted suicide by leaping from a bridge on the North Circular Road in Walthamstow.

Rhona Friedman, defending, said: “It was the most dramatic exhibition of remorse.”

The failed suicide bid left him with several broken bones, including a shattered femur, elbow, heel and fractured skull, resulting in him using a crutch for support in court.

The accused also required brain surgery after plummeting 30ft from the flyover in east London.

Magistrates heard that Dodgeon, who has previously researched health inequalities and alcohol consumption patterns, did not supply the drugs to anyone.

They were stored in his bedroom, which was off-limits to party guests who had been invited to the event through Facebook.

The court was told Dodgeon and Ms Hadjipateras, who have been together for 25 years, knew the party was taking place and warned neighbours in advance.

Ms Friedman said the university lecturer was full of regret, and has since given up drugs and alcohol.

Dodgeon pleaded guilty to four counts of possession, including party drugs ecstasy, LSD and ketamine when he appeared at West London Magistrates’ Court last week.

He also admitted to owning the psychedelic drug 5-MeO-DIPT – street name Foxy Methoxy – often used as an erotic enhancer.

The coroner listed the cause of Isobel’s death as MDMA ingestion.

 

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