Jade Catherine Slack (3 May 1992 – 14 July 2002) was a ten-year-old British girl who died after swallowing five

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

tablets.

Ecstasy overdose

On 14 July 2002, ten-year-old Jade visited family friends Wayne Wood, 22, and Rebecca Hodgson, 21, to see their newborn baby. Whilst there, she uncovered high strength ecstasy tablets hidden in a cigarette box, and mistakening them for sweets, she took five of them. She overheated, so Wood and Hodgson put her under the shower in a futile bid to cool her down. It wasn't until the arrival of other relatives 90 minutes later, that an ambulance was called and Jade was rushed to hospital.

Death and legacy

Jade died at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary that day. Wood and Hodgson were cleared of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

, but Wood was jailed when he admitted to selling ecstasy. Jade's best friend told a court that Jade started “acting funny”, moaning and begging to be kissed. She gave video-link evidence to

Manchester Crown Court Manchester Crown Court (Crown Square) is a Crown Court venue which deals with criminal cases at Crown Square in Manchester, England. History Until the 1940s, criminal court cases were heard at the Manchester Assize Courts. However, the assize ...

about the tragedy, and said Jade first went to a bedroom to lie down. She returned 15 to 20 minutes later “acting funny”. Her friend said: “She started speaking and shaking about at the same time. She couldn’t sit down for two minutes. She was slapping herself and saying, Stop slapping me’.” She also said 17-year-old Kim Speak got Jade to admit she had taken two pills.

Coronation Street storyline

On 17 September 2007, ITV1's ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' aired a storyline that saw the seven-year-old character Bethany Platt swallow an ecstasy pill that had been hidden inside her doll's head. There were rumours that the storyline could have been inspired by Jade's death, and Jade's mother, Beverly, told '' The Sun'' that she only decided to watch the episodes after "days of inner turmoil". She also said "If ''Coronation Street'' can get that message over and spare another family from going through the nightmare we’ve endured then it will do some good. If it gets the message across properly then I have to support it".

References

* http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/3117246.stm * http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2131583.stm * https://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/sep/21/drugsandalcohol.drugs * https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/couple-delayed-as--girl-10-died-from-ecstasy-overdose-579370.html * http://announce.jpress.co.uk/10601974?s_source=jpnw_lanc {{DEFAULTSORT:Slack, Jade 1992 births 2002 deaths Drug-related deaths in England English children Accidental deaths in England Child deaths