The legacy of Leah Betts 30 years after her drug death

This image of Leah Betts clinging to life in hospital was widely printed during the 1990s

On the night of her 18th birthday party, Leah Betts put on her best outfit, gathered with friends and prepared to celebrate.

She also took an ecstasy pill that would ultimately lead to her death.

The image of the teenager clinging to life in hospital would become one of the most harrowing to be shown in the British media in the 1990s.

Thirty years on from her death, what is the legacy of the tragedy and her parents' campaigning that followed?

Leah Betts was a middle class teenager who lived in the quiet rural village of Latchingdon

Leah Betts lived in Latchingdon near Maldon in Essex.

The middle class teenager's father was a police officer and her step-mother a nurse.

Her death four days after collapsing at her party attracted blanket coverage in newspapers and on television.

Leah had purchased ecstasy at a nightclub in Basildon and took it later that evening on 11 November 1995.

Her father, Paul, once told the BBC: "Being an ex-police officer, my stupidity was telling me that the majority of drug users were dropouts."

'Hard-hitting'

It was Mr Betts and Leah's step-mother Janet who decided to release the image of the teenager in hospital to the press.

They wanted to warn other families it could happen to anyone.

"It was hard-hitting," remembers Sarah Tinker, of the Essex Recovery Foundation.

Leah's funeral was held in her home village of Latchingdon

Leah's name is still brought up in conversations during Ms Tinker's work for the drugs charity.

"It was a very brave thing of the family to release that image," she adds.

"It attracted huge national coverage at the height of newspaper popularity and shocked a lot of people."

After taking ecstasy, Leah drank about seven litres (12 pints) of water to stay hydrated within a rapid time period.

However, it was this "water intoxication" that caused her brain to swell - putting Leah into a coma before dying.

Paul and Janet Betts announced Leah's death at a press conference at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford

The image of Leah wired up to a life support machine was used on a billboard campaign with the tagline "sorted - just one ecstasy tablet took Leah Betts".

This was followed by a short film called Sorted. Its producers estimated this was watched by up to 500,000 children in the aftermath of Leah's death.

The Betts themselves visited about 2,500 schools in the 10 years that followed the tragedy.

It also made waves in popular culture when Hollyoaks aired an episode where an 18-year-old took ecstasy and died at her birthday party.

Leah's death changed the national debate on drugs in Britain and is still remembered by many adults of that generation.

Posters showing Leah Betts in hospital were handed to people attending Raquels nightclub in Basildon days after her death

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live in 2017, Mr Betts said he was still getting messages thanking him for releasing the image of his daughter.

One of those people was the show's presenter, Emma Barnett, who said: "I never did anything, so I would like to thank you.

"She unwittingly lost her life but became a poster girl not to do drugs.

"It was incredibly brave as a family what you had to go through."

The couple's campaigning is also remembered by Ms Tinker, who is the radical change lead at her charity.

"I was very young when this all happened, but I still remember it," she says.

"It stuck with you as a young person as it was very scary."

This ecstasy tablet was from the same batch that Leah Betts took, according to police

Police investigating Leah's death warned the tablet was probably one of a contaminated batch she bought at Basildon's nightclub Raquels.

They have also linked her death to the notorious Essex Boys murders weeks later, suggesting the shootings may have been an act of revenge.

But Ms Tinker argues Leah's legacy remains a positive one due to the conversations her plight started.

She says: "What this harrowing case has done is created much better governmental policies around testing and contaminated drugs.

"But we should remember Leah was a real person.

"She was so much more than the drugs she took and the sad, untimely death she had."