'Greedy' teen sold drugs to girl who died after Exeter night out

A judge has labelled a teenager "greedy" for his role in dealing MDMA, which led to the tragic death of a 16-year-old girl in Devon. Lucy Hill, from Exmouth, collapsed after taking the drug at Move nightclub on Exeter Quay and died in December 2022.

James Greaves, 19, of Hatt, Cornwall, and Taylor Rowsell, 18, of Rosebery Road, Exmouth, faced sentencing at Exeter Crown Court for supplying the MDMA tablets. The court learned that Greaves had given the drugs to Rowsell, who then sold them during a youth event at the club where alcohol was not available.

Rowsell profited about £350 from selling the pills to attendees, including Lucy and her friends. Both Rowsell and Greaves, who were minors at the time of the crime, previously pleaded guilty to supplying class A drugs.

Judge James Adkin sentenced Greaves to three-and-a-half years in a young offender institution, while Rowsell received two years. Despite Rowsell's concerns regarding the potency of the tablets, Greaves proceeded to sell to children, earning him the judge's censure for his money-driven actions.

He said: “Your involvement was through immaturity, yes, to an extent, but you threw yourself into a drug dealing business for the status and the money. This was not a one-off, you had been dealing for months, you sold to children.

“Lucy Hill died because you sold her drugs, you sold her two tablets, despite the fact that you were concerned about the dosage. It seems to me you were simply greedy, and your greed for money was greater than your concern for any customer.”

Judge Adkin described Greaves as a “wholesaler”, who made up the drugs capsules for others to sell on the street. He said Greaves had played a “leading role” in the “organising, buying and selling (of drugs) on a commercial scale” and that he knew Rowsell was selling drugs to children.

“You knew that Rowsell was acquiring drugs to sell to children, that’s evident from text messages,” he said. The additional aggravating feature is obvious – the drug you supplied killed a 16-year-old girl.”