Parliament to debate new law after death of Northallerton teen

Leah Heyes and mum Kerry.

Parliament will today debate changing the law to make it a specific offence to sell drugs to under 16s.

The move follows a campaign by Northallerton mum Kerry Roberts, whose 15-year-old daughter Leah Heyes died in 2019 after she took ecstasy.

Kerry wants a new law which would make selling drugs to under-16s a different offence, carrying a longer jail term.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, will introduce the law change as a Ten Minute Rule bill in the Commons.

The debate has been welcomed by Kerry who said: “Hopefully this is the start of something big.”

More than 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for the law change, although the Government has said it has no plans to change the law.

Leah collapsed in the Applegarth car park, Northallerton, after taking two tablets of MDMA, the chemical name for ecstasy, in May 2019.

The drugs were supplied by Connor Kirkwood, then 17, from Dishforth, and handed to her by another boy, Mitchell Southern, who were later jailed.

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