Sky Nicol, 16, died after taking five times the fatal level of Ecstasy

The grief stricken mother of a 16-year old girl who died after an Ecstasy overdose fled a courtroom in tears after accusing one of her daughter's former school friends of killing her.

Susan Graham's outburst came at an inquest into daughter Sky Nicol's death after hearing how she was unconscious in her friend's bedroom after taking five times the fatal level of the drug - but the other girl did not call an ambulance.

Paramedics were eventually called to the friend's house after the unnamed girl waited around half an hour before calling a third teenager who turned up at the house and realised Miss Nicol was seriously ill.

Miss Nicol was rushed to hospital but died an hour later. According to friends she had 'bashed up a massive bag of MDMA and tipped it into her mouth' in the hours before her death.

 

Sky Nicol, 16, pictured left and right, died after taking an Ecstasy overdose, an inquest in Blackburn heard

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Tests showed she had also taken significant amounts of heroin and cocaine.

During a courtroom confrontation Mrs Graham reacted with fury to the girl's evidence and shouted at her: 'If you phoned the ambulance straight away my baby would still be here.

'In my opinion, you f****** killed her. You delayed that ambulance and stopped her getting the urgent attention she needed. I can't sit and listen to any more of this because they f****** killed her.

'As soon as she knew there was something wrong she should have phoned the ambulance. My daughter is never coming back. 

'I will say it until the day I'm placed in my own coffin. They killed her.' 

She then left the hearing for five minutes to compose herself before returning.

Miss Nicol, from Blackburn, Lancashire, had attended The Heights Free School in the town where staff described her as 'a well-liked girl with a big personality'.

The daughter of a pub landlord, she also enjoyed sport, leisure and performing arts.

But the Blackburn hearing was told after leaving school in 2015 friends learnt the youngster had been abusing heroin and other drugs. 

The tragedy occurred on March 23 after Miss Nicol took significant amounts of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy including the 'bashing up a massive bag of MDMA' before 'tipping it into her mouth'.

The friend, also 16, who cannot be named told the hearing: 'Me and Sky were both on a bus at about 4.30pm.

'I do not know whether she was under the influence at that time but she got off before me. 

 Her mother Susan Graham, pictured, left the inquest in tears after accusing one of her daughter's friends of being responsible for her death

'I got home but Sky then came about 45 minutes later and when she arrived, she seemed to be in a bit of a worse state than she had before, on the bus.

'I really do not know if she took anything after she got to my house but when she arrived, she definitely seemed, to me, to be under the influence of drugs. 

'I was aware she had taken ecstasy and cocaine in the past, but never heroin.'

'At 5.53pm I called my friend Emma McDonald and told her Sky was not right. I could hear Sky making strange noises in the background like she was trashing the room. 

'She was shaking and I tried to help her. She was not able to hold a conversation and her lips had gone blue.

'My mum and my mum's sister were both in the house and my mum was aware Sky was in the bedroom. My mum told me to     ring an ambulance and when Emma arrived at 6.30pm I called one.'

Miss McDonald added: 'I knew Sky had previously taken cocaine and ecstasy but was never aware of any adverse reaction to either. 

 

Mrs Graham told the hearing her daughter (left and right) was 'killed' by the friend, 16, because she did not call for an ambulance when Miss Nicol fell unconscious

___________________________________________________________________

 

Medical experts told the inquest Miss Nicol, pictured, took five times the fatal level of Ecstasy

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

'Our friend phoned me and said Sky had turned up and was in a bad state. She asked if I'd come down and help her.

'I thought they were just joking around. I could hear Sky in the background, but couldn't make sense of anything she was saying. 

'It all sounded like wailing noises. I went downstairs to ask my mum if she'd drop me off. When I got there she was just lying unresponsive on the bed.

'She didn't react to me being there, or anything I was saying to her. She had her hands out and seemed totally spaced out. 

'Our friend told me she thought Sky had taken something, but from the state of her I could have guessed it myself. I wouldn't have known what in particular she had taken.

'I grabbed her behind her neck. She was cold and warm at the same time. Her body was sticky. I began tapping her cheeks and saying her name but there was no response.

'I knew something was wrong. I checked everywhere for a pulse. I checked her arms, her heart and even put my ear to her chest. 

'I recall saying, 'I can't hear anything at all. Call an ambulance now, quickly'. It was about a 10 minute wait for the ambulance. 

'The paramedic on the phone told us to do CPR and we did everything we could.

'I had been told that in Blackburn, Sky got a bag containing MDMA, bashed it up and tipped it into her mouth. She took loads. 

 

The teenager was described a 'well-liked girl with a big personality' by staff at her school in Blackburn

___________________________________________________________________________________________________   

 

After hearing the evidence, Coroner Michael Singleton said it was 'unlikely' the teenager, pictured, would have survived even if she had received earlier medical treatment

_____________________________________________________________________________________________    

'Friends told her she'd end up dead but she just said she'd rather be dead. I think it is something that had been going on all day.'

Miss Nicol was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital but was pronounced dead at 7.42pm.

Tests showed the levels of Ecstasy in the teenager's blood was 5.19 microgrammes per litre. The level of fatality for ecstasy in the blood is 0.6-2.8mg.

Consultant pathologist Dr Muammer Al-Mudhaffer said: 'It is my belief that such a volume of drugs would pose a serious and significant threat to life. 

'She had in her system five times the amount which could potentially kill her.'

Recording a conclusion of drug related death as a result of combined drug use, coroner Michael Singleton told Miss Nicol's family it was unlikely she could have been saved if the ambulance had been called sooner.

But he warned: 'At 16 years of age, kids have a whole lifetime ahead of them. During that time, they will see amazing things. 

'They will travel to amazing places and meet amazing people. They will do amazing things but I am afraid that those amazing things do not come in tablet form.

'People do not know what they are dealing with. They do not know when they take a tablet or ingest a powder what impurities they are taking into their bodies. They don't know what they are taking at all.

 

A 16-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy have been arrested and bailed in connection with supplying the drug to Miss Nicol, pictured

___________________________________________________________________________________________  

  

Mrs Graham, pictured, had to leave the hearing for five minutes to compose herself after becoming upset at hearing the details of her daughter's death

_________________________________________________________________________________________

'Part of the problem with illicit drugs is that when you take such a cocktail of drugs as Sky did, the outcome is very unpredictable and, more often than not, fatal. 

'As a parent myself I cannot begin to imagine the pain and the grief that you are dealing with.

'The short term high of these terrible drugs is nothing compared to the risks associated with it. Unfortunately, through her off the scale use of ecstasy, Sky has paid the ultimate price. 

'I would hate for her friends not to learn from her death, and not to pass the message on. Her death has to mean something. It just has to. You have my total, deepest sympathy for your loss.'

Speaking after the inquest, Miss Nicol's older sister Bronwyn, 18, said: 'I'm heartbroken. She was outgoing, beautiful and lovely. We were so alike. I'll always miss my baby sister.'

Police arrested a 16-year-old girl and a boy of 15 on suspicion of being concerned in ecstasy supply and released both on bail. 

A 46-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of obstructing the course of justice but was freed without charge.