A SOUTHAMPTON teenager suffered a fatal heart attack after taking an Ecstasy overdose that was one of the biggest a Home Office pathologist had ever seen, an inquest heard today.
Southampton Coroner's Court was told that 18-year-old Wendy Papas, who died on March 8, had twice the amount of Ecstasy in her blood that would normally kill.
The shop worker from Kendal Avenue, Millbrook, was found dead in a room at Southampton's Hotel Ibis, in West Quay Road after a night out with boyfriend James Hatcher, 26.
Mr Hatcher told how Wendy had offered him Ecstasy tablets in the hotel bar early in the evening.
She swallowed two, he said, while he had one. The couple began feeling sick so they went to bed.
Mr Hatcher described how he awoke later and felt "something was definitely wrong" before discovering his girlfriend of one year was lying dead.
Pathologist Dr Allen Anscombe told the inquest she had probably suffered a heart attack as a result of taking the dance drug tablet.
"Ecstasy is an amphetamine drug. They increase the pulse and blood pressure. They put a strain on the heart and she probably suffered a heart attack."
He added: "This is not a low toxic level. This was a high toxic level, very much one of the highest levels encountered."
Sgt David Morgan, of Shirley CID, said they had investigated Wendy's death as a potential manslaughter case.
But he said there was no evidence that Mr Hatcher, of Brookwood Close, Millbrook, supplied the drug.
Coroner Keith Wiseman recorded a verdict of death as a result of non-dependent abuse of drug.
"There cannot be anything more tragic than the death of a lively young person with their whole life ahead of them," he said.
"I can only hope that the result of a tragedy of this kind helps to at least deter some others.
"I'm sure the family wouldn't want anyone else to go through what they have been through in the last few months."
Wendy's aunt Linda Barnes, said: "She was a lovely girl. It's just a tragedy you don't expect."
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