Surrey boy found dead in friend’s pool after drug binge

Ben Cook (pictured), 17, was found floating face down in just his boxer shorts by his friends at one of their homes in Oxshott, Surrey on May 14 last year

A teenage boy was found dead in his friend’s luxury indoor swimming pool after binging on Xanax, ecstasy and cannabis, an inquest heard today. 

Ben Cook, 17, was found floating face down in just his boxer shorts by his friends at one of their homes in Oxshott, Surrey on May 14 last year.

An inquest into the micro brewery worker’s death heard he had smoked cannabis, taken Xanax and snorted seven lines of ecstasy before his friends Barry Medleycott, 19, Emile Allos, 18 and one other, 17, found his lifeless body. 

He had been referred by his doctor to  substance misuse service Catch 22 a month before his death and had been ‘grounded’ by his father when he died.

Mr Cook had climbed out of a window to meet up with his three friends the previous night in Guildford before catching to a train to Oxshott and Mr Medleycott’s home. They picked up more drugs at 2.45am before they arrived at the large house in Stokesheath Road.    

Mr Allos told Woking Coroner’s Court he believes Mr Cook snorted seven lines of ecstasy in the space of two or three minutes from the top of a table by Mr Medleycott indoor swimming pool.

He said: ‘Barry had gone to bed and Ben wanted us [Mr Allos and the unnamed friend, 17] to go back downstairs with him as he was doing class A drugs.

The 17-year-old (pictured with mother Deborah Lynn) had been referred by his doctor to a substance misuse service Catch 22 a month before his death and had been 'grounded' by his father before he died

The 17-year-old (pictured with mother Deborah Lynn) had been referred by his doctor to a substance misuse service Catch 22 a month before his death and had been ‘grounded’ by his father before he died

‘We went back into the pool room and went on the round sofa, like a chair, then he started doing these lines.’

Mr Allos and his friend left Mr Cook at around 4.30am, they said, before waking up five hours later.

The boy, 17, who was the last one to see Mr Cook alive, told assistant coroner Anna Crawford: ‘He was smoking a cigarette and wasn’t passed out. 

‘I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary, it was just a normal night.

‘We actually had a really fun night and it was really relaxed.’

When Mr Allos and his friend woke up and walked to the pool room at around 9.45am, they could not see Mr Cook at first.

After searching the five-bedroom house they returned back to the pool with Mr Medleycott where they saw Mr Cook’s clothes strewn across the floor and his half-naked body, clad only in his boxer shorts, floating face down in the deep end of the pool.

Mr Medleycott pulled his body out of the water and performed CPR before paramedics arrived pronouncing him dead at the scene.

He told the hearing: ‘I remember pulling up my trousers and between the trouser legs I saw the body in the water.

‘I don’t think I dropped anything as quickly. 

‘It’s something you want forget, not forget him, but something you just see. 

‘I haven’t been swimming since. The thought of going near water at the moment is horrible.’

An inquest into the micro brewery worker's (pictured) death heard the teenager had smoked cannabis, taken Xanax and snorted seven lines of ecstasy before his friends Barry Medleycott, 19, Emile Allos, 18 and one other, 17, found his lifeless body

An inquest into the micro brewery worker’s (pictured) death heard the teenager had smoked cannabis, taken Xanax and snorted seven lines of ecstasy before his friends Barry Medleycott, 19, Emile Allos, 18 and one other, 17, found his lifeless body

The friend, 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described his terror at what had happened.

He said: ‘I was just terrified. I ran out of the house and I don’t know why. 

‘Baz, fair play to him, called straightaway and did everything he could. 

‘I was just terrified. I remember him grabbing his phone as I was scurrying out of the house and putting my shoes on.’ 

After he was pronounced dead, the two friends left the house and went home. 

The 17-year-old added: ‘Until I got in the car with my mum… I knew what had happened, but I didn’t think it was real and I thought what had happened can’t have just happened. 

Mr Cook’s mother, Deborah Lynn, raised the question of whether they had taken a homemade drug of energy drink and painkillers, but neither were detected in the teenager’s body by toxicologists.

A toxicology report found her son had a small trace of Xanax, 1.3mg pl of cannabis, and 1.23mg pl of MDMA in his body at the time of his death.

Toxicologist Donna Cameron told how MDMA caused euphoria, increased energy but could also have the effect of drowsiness.

Pictured: Mr Medleycott's five bedroom home is in Stokesheath Road, Oxshott, Surrey 

Pictured: Mr Medleycott’s five bedroom home is in Stokesheath Road, Oxshott, Surrey 

She said the fact Mr Cook’s clothes were found strewn across the floor was a characteristic of an increase in body temperature caused by the drug.

A post-mortem examination concluded Mr Cook’s cause of death was immersion.

In a statement read to the inquest, Miss Lynn said her son was everything to her.

‘He was a loving son and brother and will be deeply missed by his sister and me.

‘To say we are heartbroken is an understatement. 

‘He had a wonderful sense of humour and never failed to make us laugh. He had a smile that would melt your heart, well mine anyway.’

His father, Chris Cook, described him as happy and exuberant.

‘For reasons I’ll never understand, he had some degree of anxiety which I’ll never understand,’ he said.

‘On days before his death I picked him up from his new job and he was looking forward to picking up his first pay cheque. I remember thinking things were looking up.’ The inquest continues. 



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk