Dealer and friend 'responsible' for student death

Kasam Ali admitted selling MDMA which killed a student

Two men who traded the MDMA which killed a 21-year-old student have been sentenced.

Nathaniel Pavlovic died hours after taking the Class A drug, also known as ecstasy, given to him by his friend George Harle at a house party in Newcastle in October 2020, the city's crown court heard.

Kasam Ali, who sold the MDMA, was jailed for three years and seven months while Harle was jailed for a year suspended for a year with 150 hours unpaid work.

Mr Pavlovic's family said they were devastated by his death while judge Tim Gittins said it had been an "avoidable tragedy" with both men bearing responsibility.

Mr Pavlovic, from Halifax in West Yorkshire, had just entered the final year of a cybersecurity degree at Northumbria University when he died in the early hours of 4 October 2020, the court heard.

'Hallucinating and hot'

He and friends had been socialising at his shared-flat at the Rialto building on Melbourne Street when Harle, then aged 20, arrived and offered them drugs, prosecutor Jessica Slaughter said.

Several people, including Harle, took the MDMA, the court heard.

One girl who took the drug said it made her feel "depressed and paranoid" and caused her to vomit, adding it was a "totally different" experience compared to when she used it before, Ms Slaughter said.

Mr Pavlovic quickly started acting erratically, the court heard, suffering hallucinations and over-heating.

His friends tried to cool him down with wet towels but became increasingly concerned as he was unable to stand or talk coherently, Ms Slaughter said.

Paramedics were called and he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead at 07:23 BST.

'Mourn loss every day'

In statements read to the court, Mr Pavlovic's parents said their son was kind, genuine and had a "wicked sense of humour".

His father said they had a "Nathan-shaped hole" in their lives and after his death they shared his money out between his friends which is what he would have wanted.

He said his son was "super cautious" and the family would "never know" what was said to him that night to persuade him to take drugs, adding it was "so out of character".

Mr Pavlovic's mother said he and his family had been "denied" the joy of many important milestones with him "because another person made a bad decision which ultimately ended our son's life".

She said he had been very popular with about 300 people attending his funeral, although many of them had to do so virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions in place.

"We mourn his loss every minute of every day," she said.

'Wishes he'd died'

In mitigation for Harle, Adrian Strong said that weekend had been one last chance for everyone to socialise before lockdown restrictions were expected to resume.

The court heard Harle had since graduated as a nurse working with children and was keen to use his "negative experience" to ensure others did not take drugs.

He said Harle accepted both moral and legal responsibility for Mr Pavlovic's death and he would "always regret" his actions, adding: "The death of Nathan is always on his mind."

"He wishes quite frankly it had been him that died that night and not [Mr Pavlovic]," Mr Strong said.

Harle gave police the details of his dealer, Ali, 34, who was arrested the following day in his car and found with a haul of MDMA, cocaine, ketamine and cannabis worth up to £2,110, Ms Slaughter said.

The MDMA was found to have 96% purity, with messages on his phone showing Ali had been selling drugs since 5 September 2020, the court heard.

In mitigation, John Crawford said his client had become addicted to drugs after being injured in a machete attack in 2019 and was dealing to pay off debts.

'Prime of life'

Judge Tim Gittins said Mr Pavlovic was "naive" and "wholly inexperienced" in drug use, taking an amount which "would have been a fatal dose for anyone".

"It is nothing short of an avoidable tragedy," the judge said, adding both Ali and Harle bore a responsibility in part for the death of the "likeable" and "much-loved young man" at the "prime of his life".

The judge said Ali was prepared to sell illegal drugs in lethal quantities while Harle, as a student nurse, "should have known better" than to give his friend the illicit substance.

Judge Gittins said the case was a "stark warning" about those who saw taking drugs as "recreational", adding: "They are nothing short of dicing with death and sometimes people lose the game".

Harle, of Shield Street in Newcastle, admitted supplying MDMA while Ali, of Croydon Road, Fenham, admitted four counts of possessing drugs with an intent to supply.