A judge has warned it is "not cool'' to take drugs following the death of a teenager after he took ecstasy tablets.
Judge Geoffrey Miller KC sounded the warning as he sentenced two women and a man linked to the supply of the lethal Class A drug to the 17-year-old.
Victoria Burgess, of East Link, Holywood and Holly Martin, of Ashdale Crescent, Bangor, both aged 20, were told they must carry out 75 hours community service along with two years on probation.
Burgess had previously pleaded guilty to encouraging or assisting the supply of Class A drugs by providing her bank details and cash to another. Martin pleaded guilty to supplying a Class A drug, namely ecstasy tablets.
Matthew Kane, 23, of Eia Street, North Belfast, was handed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years after he admitted possessing ecstasy and cannabis with intent to supply.
Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard that at around 10.50 pm on Sunday, February 1, 2020, police were called to Market Street in Bangor, Co Down, after receiving a report that a teenager had collapsed.
Prosecution counsel Laura Ivers said that despite the efforts of the emergency services, the teenager died at the scene.
Ms Ivers added: "A toxicology report said he had died from ecstasy poisoning. Police spoke to his friends who confirmed he had been taking Eecstasy that evening. Holly Martin and another person were taken to hospital after ingesting the same drug.''
Police inquiries established that Kurt Burgess, the brother of Victoria Burgess and who was previously sentenced for his role in the case, had travelled to East Belfast earlier that day to buy the drugs.
"When Kurt Burgess arrived back in Holywood, he supplied the ecstasy tablets to another. Holly Martin was one of the people who supplied him with the money to buy the drugs.''
Later in the evening, Martin went to Bangor and shared the drugs with the victim.
Ms Ivers said Martin's bank accounts were examined and showed she transferred a total of £130 to Victoria Burgess's account. Burgess withdrew £140 from her account which enabled her brother to buy the ecstasy tablets.
"Police searched Matthew Kane's home and found herbal cannabis and ecstasy tablets in the living room along with dealer bags, scales and a drug cutting agent.''
The seized drugs had a street value of up to £2,683.
In a statement, the deceased's mother she said the impact of his death on her has been "intense and deeply traumatic.''
Passing sentence, Judge Geoffrey Miller KC said: "It is important to remember that as a result of these events a young man, in truth no more than a boy, lost his life.
"No one intended that this would occur. But it did. This provides the clearest possible warning as to the consequences that follow when young people experiment with these drugs.
"The notion that it is cool and it is safe to do so is tragically misplaced as this case so clearly illustrates."
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