A TEENAGER has warned people to stay away from drugs after a rare hallucinogenic drug killed his best friend.
Bradley Cockel, 19, of Beatty Gardens, Braintree, died at a friend's flat in Bramble Court, Witham, after taking the then legal substance known as 2CE, which has properties similar to LSD and ecstasy.
But as the drugs started to take effect Bradley started to convulse and his friends were not able to help him due to the hallucinogenic effects of the drugs on their own bodies.
One of them eventually managed to successfully call an ambulance, but when it arrived he was already dead.
Best friend Alex Tucker, 19, giving evidence at an inquest, said: "We were told by our friend who got it that it would give us trips.
"He said he'd tried it before or something similar and that this wasn't that strong and wasn't that bad and before we left my house we looked on the internet to see what it was like.
"But when we took it, it felt different, things started moving about. I wasn't conscious of what was going on, I couldn't work out the depth of things, we were in a completely different world.
"I tried to call an ambulance for Brad, but the keys on my phone were all moving about. "The next thing I remember I was in a hospital bed," adding he did not know who successfully made the call to the ambulance.
Mr Cockel's two friends, who took a similar substance but with a slightly different make-up, were taken to Broomfield Hospital for treatment and released the next day.
Area coroner, Eleanor McGann, who presided over the inquest held at County Hall in Chelmsford on Wednesday, said that as a result of the evidence given she would recommend to the government that 2CE is made illegal.
"I have heard all the evidence about this designer drug and it is quite clear that people who take it are not in control and that although it was legal at the time, it has subsequently caused deaths, it is a completely horrendous drug" she said.
"To try and prevent further deaths I will recommend in my report to the Ministry of Justice that this drug and all its combinations should be made fully and properly illegal."
A postmortem examination was carried out at Broomfield Hospital by Dr Olaf Biedrzycki, who gave evidence the hearing, which found there was no natural disease that could have caused Bradley's death.
Dr Olaf Biedrzycki told the court: "The toxicology report identified a rare compound, so rare that very little research has been done on it, but we do know it has been linked to a handful of deaths.
"It has the potential to create life-threatening serotonin levels in the brain, which can cause fitting.
"If the fitting is of a high level it can affect the muscles and breathing can become restricted – it would only take a few minutes of this to starve the brain of oxygen.
"The effects can be dizziness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, as well as a raised heart rate."
Prior to his death Mr Cockel worked for the family business, an asbestos consultancy firm based in Finchingfield.
At the time police thought the drug came from "a crude batch" of LSD, but at the inquest both Mrs McGann, and DI Martin Pasmore, who investigated the case, told the court that 2CE was legal in April 2013, but has since been put under a government protection order, with the intention of it being made completely illegal.
Mrs McGann recorded a verdict of death caused by a drug overdose for Mr Cockel.
'Please let this serve as a lesson' IN a statement Bradley Cockel's parents said: "Bradley was a loving and beautiful son and brother. He was an important part of our close family.
"We enjoyed holidays together and he was a sensible young man who had the brightest of futures in front of him.
"Please let this serve as a lesson to anyone who thinks that it is safe to experiment with drugs because if anyone could see or feel the pain that our family is suffering then they would realise that it is a risk not worth taking."
