Joshua Connolly-Teale, 16, died on a camping trip with three friends when the tragedy happened last May
A teenager who died on a camping trip with his friends had taken ecstasy, an inquest heard.
Joshua Connolly-Teale, 16, was taking a break from revision in the middle of his GCSE exams in May when he went camping with three friends in Rochdale last month.
The inquest heard that Joshua and his friends had arranged to buy ecstasy from an ‘unknown male in a silver Fiat’ at Broadfield Park in Rochdale.
Joshua, who suffered from epilepsy, and two of his pals each took one tablet, while a fourth friend took half, and had planned to spend the night camping in fields in Syke.
But shortly after the friends, who had also been drinking and smoking cannabis, arrived at the campsite Joshua ‘collapsed and began shaking’.
His friends put him in the tent, but he died during the night and his body was discovered the next morning.
Police coroners officer Kathy Skelton told the inquest opening: ‘As we understand it the circumstances are that Joshua spent the night with three of his friends. They had been to Broadfield Park where they had arranged to purchase some ecstasy from an unknown male in a silver Fiat.
‘They all took one tablet. One of the friends took half and we have not been able to account for the other half.
‘They had also been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis.
‘They have then made their way to Dewhirst Road where they were going to put up a camp, but as they arrived Joshua collapsed and started shaking.
‘They put Joshua in the tent, but unfortunately when they woke in the morning he had died.’
Ms Skelton said a cause of death had not yet been established.
She added toxicology reports were being drawn up and testing was being carried out to find out if Joshua, who the inquest heard suffered from epilepsy, had any undiagnosed illnesses which may have led to his death.
Joshua had recently celebrated becoming an uncle after his sister had a little girl Madison, who he doted on
The inquest also heard a police investigation into the case is continuing.
Three other teenagers were all taken to hospital for treatment but have since been discharged,
A full inquest is scheduled to take place later in the year.
Last month Joshua’s heartbroken mum paid tribute to her ‘wonderful and loving’ son.
Joanne Teale said her son, one of five siblings, loved art and IT, was on track to get some good GCSE results and had been looking forward to studying game development at Hopwood Hall College.
Joshua’s heartbroken mum Joanne, second from left, said that he had ‘a lot of mates and he was close to all his siblings because they were all so close in age
He had also recently celebrated becoming an uncle after his sister Becca had a little girl Madison, who he doted on.
‘Josh really loved her. He was really good with her and was looking forward to spending time with her. He was so pleased and proud to be an uncle,’ she said.
‘He was close to his brother and all his sisters, especially Lauren because they were about the same age.
‘He had a lot of mates and he was really funny. We used to call him Victor Meldrew if he was being grumpy. And he would tickle me to make me jump – he was funny.
‘Every night he would bump fists with his dad and he would bend down so I could kiss his head before saying goodnight.’
As well as Joanne, Joshua leaves his dad Geoff, sisters Lauren, 14, Becca, 23, and Kayler, 27 and brother Kieron, 26, niece Madison and brother-in-law Ben.
Recent Reports said that ecstasy and MDMA are getting stronger in the Greater Manchester area.
Michael Linnell, coordinator of the Greater Manchester Drug Early Warning System told the Independent that MDMA pills and MDMA powder are stronger than they have ever been and that is what makes it so dangerous.
‘Even half a pill can be a dangerously high dose on its own and the risk is increased if alcohol and other drugs are taken at the same time,’ he said.
‘There have been numerous recent warnings about high-potency individual pills, which are thought to contain up to 300mg of MDMA.
‘This is at least three times a strong dose for an adult male and more than four times that for a younger person or a woman with a smaller bodyweight.’