Refuse collector jailed for supplying drugs to 15-year-old girl who died

A refuse collector has been jailed for supplying drugs to a 15-year-old girl shortly before she collapsed and died.

Jacob Khanlarian, 20, was sentenced to three years after he admitted supplying MDMA – ecstasy – to Leah Kerry.

Leah died after after taking three pills in a park in Newton Abbot, Devon, with two friends. The other girls, who shared a pill, were treated in hospital but recovered.

Khanlarian of Newton Abbot, who had no previous convictions, handed himself into police after hearing of Leah’s death.

Leah had travelled to the town from her home in Salisbury, Wiltshire, with her mother for her grandmother’s birthday. She was dropped off to see friends and they got in touch with Khanlarian.

They paid him £30 for the pills and Leah took three of them. She started hallucinating shortly afterwards and a friend called an ambulance but she died in hospital.

In a letter read out to Exeter crown court, Khanlarian apologised. He said: “I understand the severity of my case and there is nothing I can do now to change what happened. But I just want to say how sorry I am for the loss and grief I caused the girl’s friends and family.”

The judge, Graham Cottle, told him an aggravating feature of the case was that he was prepared to sell drugs to such young people.
Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said tests found that Leah had high levels of MDMA in her body. She said other drugs found in her body, including ketamine, were put down to the impurities in the pills.

Jeffrey Segan, defending, said Khanlarian showed courage in handing himself into police and admitting what had happened. “He is full of remorse for what happened,” Segan said.

The court heard the defendant had no previous convictions but had been dealing cannabis for four years. He had bought a batch of 250 ecstasy pills for £100.
Outside court, the senior investigating officer, DI Mike Jones, said: “This has been the most tragic case with the death of a child. There are no winners here. The family of Leah will not see this as justice for the death of their little girl and the family of Khanlarian will have to live with the consequences that he supplied the drugs that caused her death.

“All we can hope for is this case serves as a warning and a reminder what can happen to a young, healthy young girl like Leah in a very short space of time if you roll the dice and take drugs.

“You do not know what tablets contain. If just one person decides not to risk their lives because of this it will be a very small consolation to this tragedy.”

He added: “Every batch of pills is very different and the dose can vary widely. Children think they are made of titanium and nothing is going to touch them.
But as this demonstrates the human body is very fragile.”