Eloise Parry diet pill death: Manslaughter convictions overturned

Bernard Rebelo had two convictions for manslaughter overturned on appeal

A man faces a retrial over the death of a woman who took toxic slimming pills.

Eloise Parry, 21, a bulimic student from Shrewsbury, took eight tablets containing dinitrophenol (DNP) in 2015.

Bernard Rebelo was found guilty of two counts of manslaughter in connection with her death and jailed for seven years, but the convictions have been overturned on appeal.

Court of Appeal judges ruled Rebelo, 31, from Gosport, would only face one count of manslaughter at a retrial.

He was also convicted of one count of placing unsafe food on the market at his first trial at Inner London Crown Court in June.

Ms Parry, a student at Wrexham Glyndwr University, had bulimia and borderline personality disorder.

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Sir Brian Leveson, who heard the appeal with two other judges, ruled that Rebelo must stand trial on a single charge of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Eloise Parry was 21 when she died in 2015

At an earlier hearing in February, he assured Ms Parry's parents the judges were "very aware" of their tragic loss, but said the appeal was "an analysis of the law".

DNP is a highly toxic substance when ingested, inhaled or absorbed through the skin and was declared unfit for human consumption in the United States in 1938.

It is sold as a slimming agent as it causes weight loss by burning fat and carbohydrates, with energy converted into heat.