Worthing drug-scare teen died of natural causes

10:32am Wednesday 16th December 2009 in News By Ben Parsons, Crime Reporter

HEART ATTACK: Gabi Price HEART ATTACK: Gabi Price

Teenager Gabi Price - whose death triggered fears over the dangers of 'legal highs' - died of natural causes, a coroner has revealed.

A pathologist's report showed the 14-year-old died of broncho-pneumonia following a streptococcal A infection.

Gabi, of Coleridge Crescent, Worthing, was taken ill at a house in Moulsecoomb, Brighton on Saturday November 21.

Friends said she had taken the 'legal high' miaow, also known as meow or mephedrone.

A 39-year-old woman from Brighton and a 17-year-old man from Hove, who were arrested at the time on suspicion of supplying drugs, remain on bail.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said the conclusion of death from natural causes meant no inquest would take place.

A statement said: "A post mortem carried out on November 23 gave inconclusive results.

"Further histology and toxicology tests were then necessary to establish the cause of death.

"It has now been established that death resulted from cardiac arrest following broncho-pneumonia which resulted from a streptococcal A infection."

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Comments(5)

puddingandpi says...
11:38am Wed 16 Dec 09

So there you go, another "drug" death turns out not to be - and how much coverage will this fact be given?
Not a lot.

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Conor says...
12:49pm Wed 16 Dec 09

puddingandpi wrote:
So there you go, another "drug" death turns out not to be - and how much coverage will this fact be given?
Not a lot.
Exactly. You can't assume that if two things happen at the same time, they are connected.
Surely she and her family knew she was ill? The symptoms of pneumonia are very noticeable.

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HanoverHill says...
1:21pm Wed 16 Dec 09

I don't honestly think the Mephedrone would have helped. It makes your heart beat so fast that if it was weak through the illness it could have pushed it into cardiac arrest.

There are a large number of users who report chest pains and difficulty breathing. It is used regularly within my group and everyone has had at least one bad experience on it.

The problem is that there is absolutely no research into the chemical at the moment and I guess it would be therefore difficult for a pathologist to attribute it as a factor to the cause of death. If no one knows the effects on the body, how can they categorically say it was to blame.

Just too conincidential really.

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puddingandpi says...
4:36pm Wed 16 Dec 09

I really doubt that taking this drug helped at all!

Though I would've thought that pneumonia was at least noticeable. Surely she must've felt unwell?

But we should tell the truth about drugs & if the Government & most of society don't like the truth about drugs, they need to at least be honest.

Say, we know some drugs aren't that bad but we just don't want anyone to use them because we don't want them to.

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red-arrow says...
12:20pm Sat 19 Dec 09

Knowing some of the children involved, it seems this poor girl had been coughing up blood in the week leading up to her premature death. She had been ill all week but, as many people have said, her weekly drug taking could not have helped and why was her illness neglected until it was too late? Maybe help should have been sort before she had a heart attack but, so far from home, an ambulance was only called once she had got to the point of no return. How very unnecessary. Also, data can be and is manipulated to suit; Brighton doesn't want to be known as the drug death capital of the UK and nobody wants to think that this poor child died from drugs. There is no doubt that Gabi took meow the night before she died and every weekend leading up to her death. I think that the cause of death was the best outcome for her family under these terrible circumstances but it was also the best outcome for the city of Brighton and Hove. Unfortunately, this outcome has let down all of Gabi's friends who now might think that it is safe to continue taking meow. How many more unnecessary deaths before Brighton will admit it's problem and before teens can learn the lesson?

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