Shakira Pellow: Cornwall ecstasy death teen 'had depression'

A teenage girl who died after taking three ecstasy tablets had been suffering from depression, an inquest was told.

‬Shakira Pellow, 15, had been taking anti-depressants after the break-up of her parents' marriage, it heard.

She collapsed in Pengegon Park in Camborne, Cornwall, on 6 July last year and died in hospital the next day.

‬At the time, her family released a picture of her in hospital as a warning against drugs.

The inquest at Truro Magistrates Court heard that the teenager had been with friends when she had taken three tablets with the word Duplo stamped on them.

Det Con Aaron Heath, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said after the inquest that they were taken in "quick succession".

‬She was found collapsed in the park after friends called emergency services.

‬Three of Shakira's friends were also taken to hospital after taking the same pills but survived.

Shakira suffered three cardiac arrests and died the next day from multiple organ failure .

‬The inquest heard Shakira had been prescribed anti-depressants and had taken two overdoses in the six months before she died.

‬GP Dr William Woodward told the inquest she was suffering from "depression and anxiety".

‬Cornwall assistant coroner Barrie van den Berg recorded a verdict of a "drug-related death".

He expressed his "deepest sympathy" to Shakira's mother, Rita Hole, and family for the "unbearable loss of a child".

Ms Hole said in a statement after the inquest that the death had left the family feeling "empty and heart-broken".

She said Shakira had been warned of the risks of drug taking and said "kids should be more educated" about the risks.

The inquest heard from police investigating the case that two men had been charged with supplying drugs.