Isobel Jones-Reilly death: Manslaughter charges considered

Isobel Jones-Reilly died in 2011 after taking ecstasy at an unsupervised party in the London home of Brian Dodgeon.

Dodgeon, 61, was given an eight-month sentence suspended for two years for possession of class A drugs.

But a coroner adjourned the inquest into the death so prosecutors can consider whether to bring charges of gross negligence manslaughter.

Dr Fiona Wilcox said Dodgeon and his partner Angela Hadjipateras knew that a party would be taking place, accepted that under-age teenagers might be drinking and that their daughter had previously found a stash of cannabis in her father's drawer.

Questions needed to be answered about whether Isobel's death was preventable, she said on the first day of the inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court.

"It's with an extremely heavy heart that I apply my duty to adjourn because, in my view, it is likely that a charge of gross negligence manslaughter could be brought against either Ms Hadjipateras or Mr Dodgeon," said Dr Wilcox.

"The evidence, when I reflected upon it, is different to the evidence the Crown Prosecution Service originally considered in relation to Mr Dodgeon."

Isobel, a friend of Dodgeon's daughter, took ecstasy she found hidden in Dodgeon's home in Barlby Road, north Kensington, west London. She died in hospital.

Last December at Isleworth Crown Court, Dodgeon, a former research fellow at the University of London's Institute of Education, admitted four charges of possessing drugs including ecstasy, LSD and ketamine.

The court heard a week after Isobel's death he leapt from a flyover in a suicide attempt.

He required brain surgery after fracturing his skull and breaking several bones including a femur, an elbow and a heel.

Dodgeon, who had hidden the stash of drugs in a wardrobe in his bedroom, said he thought the teenagers would never find the drugs.

Isobel fell ill after taking two ecstasy tablets but would not let friends call 999 for fear of getting into trouble.

Her friends tried to resuscitate her and called for an ambulance when she stopped breathing.

Source & Image : BBC