Teenager admits supplying drugs to tragic ecstasy victim Shellie

A TEENAGER has admitted supplying the drugs to a tragic ecstasy victim who died at a house party.
Shellie Callaghan.Shellie Callaghan.
Shellie Callaghan.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sold the pill to 16-year-old Shellie Callaghan that led to the teen collapsing at the party in Newtongrange, Midlothian last October.

Shellie was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after swallowing the tablet but tragically lost her fight for life just hours later.

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The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to supplying ecstasy to others, in particular Shellie Callaghan, at an address in Midlothian, when she appeared alongside her two co-accused Kaia Ward and Claire Paton at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

Ward, 18, admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of ecstasy at Newtongrange Public Park, while her not guilty plea to supplying the drug to Shelley was accepted by the Crown.

Paton, 44, who appeared at court with the aid of a walking stick after recently suffering a stroke, pleaded guilty to supplying ecstasy to a 15-year-old girl and also to allowing the schoolgirl to consume drugs within her home.

Paton, now of Northumberland, also had not guilty pleas to possessing diamorphine and knowingly allow her home to be used for smoking cannabis accepted by the Crown.

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Following Shellie’s death Police Scotland were forced to issue a drug alert for rogue ecstasy tablets known as Purple Ninja Turtles and Red Bugatti Veyrons.

And after last October’s tragedy, around 300 of Shellie’s friends and family gathered at the village’s Newtongrange Park to release Chinese lanterns into the sky in honour of the tragic teenager.

Local minister Rev Malcolm Muir started up a Just Giving donation page in a bid to help Shellie’s family with any financial burdens, while family and friends also took to social media using the hashtag #SmileForShellie. A Crown narration of the events leading up to Shelley’s death on October 15 last year was due to be heard at the city court on Friday but following Ward and Paton’s guilty pleas it became apparent the 17-year-old accused’s principal lawyer was not present. Stand-in solicitor Rebecca Weissgerber told the court she could not speak on behalf of the teenager due to her unfamiliarity with the case and the narrative.

The 17-year-old pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of ecstasy to others, in particular Shellie Callaghan, now deceased, at an address in Midlothian on October 14, 2016. Ward, of Gorebridge, Midlothian, admitted to being concerned in the supply of ecstasy at Newtongrange Park, Midlothian, on October 15, 2016. Paton pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of ecstasy to a 15-year-old girl at an address in Newtongrange, Midlothian, on October 14 and 15, 2016. Paton also admitted to wilfully exposing a child in a manner likely to cause her unnecessary suffering or injury to health by allowing the child to consume drugs within her former home in Newtongrange on the same dates.