Girl dies after taking cocaine, ecstasy and laughing gas

Lauren Atkinson, whose parents said ‘lived life to the full’ had taken cocaine, Teddy Bear ecstasy pills and laughing gas before her death at the City Warehouse ApartHotel in Manchester.

The 19-year-old had been out partying with friends the night before and was found in the early hours of December 10, 2016.

Her friends said that she had also been drinking vodka during the night out.

When they found her collapsed in her hotel room they tried CPR before paramedics and first responders took over and tried to revive her for 22 minutes. She was declared dead at the scene.
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Lauren travelled to Manchester with friends from Ulverston, Cumbria, on the Friday afternoon and booked two apartments for the night.

Lauren was seen having at least three canisters of laughing gas, cocaine and vodka before going out to The Warehouse Project.

When they arrived she is believed to have dropped two Teddy Bear pills and friends said that she appeared fine until around 4.30am.

Friend Sophie Jackson said: ‘She was a bit paranoid.

‘She was anxious. She wasn’t complaining she was unwell but she made a comment about everyone looking at her. So I said shall we go? And we left around 4.30am to get a taxi.’

Lauren locked herself in a bathroom and collapsed. Sophie and friend Shannon Mansell unlocked the door using a knife then put her onto the bed.

Sophie added: ‘She was complaining there was someone on the balcony, but there wasn’t. And she was pulling at her hair trying to get her bobble out so I helped her do it. I then left and went through to the other room to see who was back.’

They left Lauren in bed but when another friend arrived she was on the floor ‘having a fit’. They put her into one of the beds but she stopped breathing and started turning blue.
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Despite efforts to save Lauren, she was declared dead at 6.24am on Saturday, December 10.

Giving evidence in court, Lauren’s friend Jake Marston described someone running into the room where he was sleeping shouting Lauren was ‘fitting’.

Her friends described finding Lauren slumped next to a radiator with her ‘teeth chattering’ and jaw ‘clenched’.

Mr Marsden told the court: ‘It was not normal what she was doing. It was quite distinct there was something quite serious going on.’

When Lauren stopped breathing and started turning a purple-blue colour, her friends called an ambulance.

Asked by the coroner if the group, in hindsight, should have done something sooner, Mr Marsden added: ‘We should have rang the ambulance first time. We thought she was okay because she came round.’

Asked whether it was fair to describe the scene as ‘confusing and chaotic’, Mr Marsden agreed it was.
Toxicologists found evidence of MDMA (ecstasy), MDA (amphetamine) and cocaine in Lauren’s bloodstream after her death.

Under evidence submitted to the court, Dr Emyr Benbow said Lauren’s death was caused by the toxicity of the three drugs.

Her dad Nigel Atkinson said: ‘Lauren loved to socialise and lived life to the full. She had been to a couple of festivals and loved to party at the weekends.

‘Both her mother and I had actively advised her against taking drugs.’

Fiona Borrill, senior coroner for Manchester, described Lauren’s death as ‘every parent’s worse nightmare’.

Ms Borrill said: ‘It’s quite clear to me that Lauren was not a habitual user and that this was a recreational use of drugs. It’s quite clear to me that you (Mrs Atkinson) and Mr Atkinson had spoken to Lauren about the risks of drug taking.’

Ms Borrill described the drugs Lauren had taken as ones that are ‘dangerous and should not be used’.

The coroner added: ‘It’s quite clear to me Lauren and her friends had underestimated the risks and toxic effects of those drugs.’

She added: ‘Lauren’s death is a tragedy not only for her family but also for her friends. I very much hope that her friends realised that it could have been them and it could have been their inquest that I was dealing with in court today.

‘This was a catastrophic conclusion after what should have been a great night out at Warehouse Project.’

Ms Borrill concluded Lauren’s death was drug-related.